Good, but disappointing as well

Rating: 7/10 (7 February 2001)

After seeing many strange phantasy, martial arts and other bizarre films from Asia, I was really looking forward to seeing Crouching Tiger. The first of its kind in years to become a box office hit in both the US, and Europe. How could it go wrong, especially with Chow Yun Fat in the lead?
Well, it doesn't go wrong, but unfortunately it doesn't live up to it's expectations as well. First of all: There really are many many much better similar films from Hong Kong. Second of all: I got a little bit tired with all the explanations that were given for the action. Ang Lee must have really presumed that none of the viewers had ever seen a martial arts film. And finally: Chow Yun Fat is still as charismatic as ever, but somehow he doesn't reach the level, that he did in (for instance) his John Woo films.
The best part of the film are the female leads. Both actresses are great! And of course, the action-scenes were good as well. But, I would recommend (for instance) a film like Heroic Trio (with a much smaller budget, BUT with Maggie Cheung) any time!