The worst movie in years

Rating: 1/10 (16 April 2001)

When I heard of this movie, I was suspicious. It had great reviews; all my mates were recommending it. I said to them "Are you sure? It sounds like just a run-of-the-mill kung fu movie which has somehow squeezed into the mainstream movie scene". "No way, it's the best movie I've ever seen,' they said. I couldn't believe how correct I was.
The only explanation for the popularity of this film is some kind of mass hysteria caused by the shock of seeing a kung fu movie for the first time. Maybe to a virgin of the kung-fu genre, CTHD could have been an interesting experience away from Hollywood (but this movie still feels Hollywood to me).
In fact CTHD was so much like so many other kung-fu films I've seen and can't remember the names of. It shares all these same characteristics - a poor, but prominent love story, croony music to accompany these scenes, dying heroes (with croony music) and of course, crazy kung fu. I am disappointed to say that CTHD was inferior even to these other, average kung fu movies.
Of course, kung fu fight scenes are unrealistic, but in most cases they are at least believable in context. Jumping off walls and from roof to roof may be hard to believe, but it sure would look cool - that is, if it weren't so obviously fake and as poorly done as CTHD. Super jumping skills I can believe, but not "floating" over the rooftops and never setting a foot on them. The fight scenes were few and far between (as with most of these romance kung-fu genre) but were nothing special even when they finally arose.
The storyline, really, could have been reduced to a couple of sentences when you think about it. In this respect CTHD is a little different from these other kung fu films I mention. These, at least, have some kind of plot twists and intricacies to the story.
Everyone I went to see this film with felt ripped off, and it irritates me to hear how much this movie is loved by a lot of people. I am not a kung fu film addict who wants to pick apart every movie. But among all of the movies I've seen (a lot), I've seen a good share of kung fu's, and I generally like them.
I could gripe all day, but to sum up: If you want a funny, fast paced kung fu film - go get an old Jackie Chan one. If you want a serious, period kung fu film with fancy wirework fighting - go get a Jet Li film. It doesn't matter which - just randomly pick one off the kung fu shelf at the video store. I guarantee, whatever it is, it will be a better example of a kung fu film (and a better film in all respects) than CTHD.