Bad-ass martial arts in zero gravity!

Rating: 9/10 (16 February 2001)

This is definitely a very unique film, but it clearly went a little too far in some elements. Is the martial art genre so done to death that the only thing left to do is come up with martial artists who are not subject to the laws of gravity? The whole flying thing was just too much. But on the other, hand, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is still a great movie. There are some incredible fight scenes, in particular. This movie had women fighting with swords in scenes that were faster and more impressive than anything that I've ever seen from Jackie Chan or Jet Li. This was by far the best element of the film, by the way - the stunning fight scenes, particularly the ones that were executed while the fighters were on the ground as opposed to flying inexplicably through the atmosphere.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a film that you really have to watch more than once in order to fully understand it, not only because of the complex plot, but also the fact that there is just so much going on that there is a lot that you can miss in only one viewing. Sure, it's subtitled, but is that really such a big deal? A lot of people complain that they can't really watch the movie because they are always trying to read what's going on in the subtitles. Well, if it takes someone so long to read one line of dialogue at a time that they are unable to pay attention to what is actually happening on screen, then it might be a better idea to stay home and work on reading skills instead of going out to the movies. You can almost always be sure that a foreign film will be good, because foreign countries don't ship out their crappy movies for the world to see. The best ones are weeded out and those are what we get, and Crouching tiger, Hidden Dragon is no exception.
(spoilers) The incredible martial arts strongly overshadow what would otherwise be the main plot of the film, which is that of a young woman, the daughter of a nobleman, who is being forced to marry against her will, and yearns for a more dangerous and exciting life. Having been sheltered for most of her life, she wants to experience the excitement of a different life, and when she enters into that life, she obviously finds many more problems and troubles than she had anticipated. She encounters a goofy guy who steals her comb (providing for some good laughs), and a rather unlikely but surprisingly effective romance develops between the two.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon contains a lot of fairly strong feminism. Women are portrayed as being very powerful and independent, which is a refreshing thing to see in the movies. There's nothing worse than seeing a movie where the female characters are just stupid bimbos. That may sound kind of extreme, but my point is that in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, the role of women stands out because the difference is so strong that it really grabs your attention. For some, the ending may have been a little too strange or too ambiguous, but it definitely has meaning. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a beautifully photographed and very powerful film that should not be missed.