I am underwhelmed!

Rating: Null/10 (27 December 2000)

This comes from a Chinese fan of Wuxia (Marshall Arts) movies. I was all pumped up by the hype and rave this movie's got. Went to see it this weekend all and I am underwhelmed. A quick run down:
The goods:
Zhang Ziyi as the lead was very good and fierce. She is young star to watch.
Action choreography by Yuan Ho Ping was the high point of the movie.
The score was great, particularly the drums during fights.
Landscape was beautiful and idyllistic. Michelle Yeoh was impressive, but not enough screen time for full appreciation.

Not so good:
Chow Yun Fat, did not wow me in either acting or action department.

The story of the revenge against the villianess, ZiYi's love story and the Chow's philosophical enlightening just didn't mingle well to me. There is no focal point of conflict to me. The villianess Jade Fox was more like a background character. And the untamable inner demon processed by Jen did not come off compelling enough to fully engage me into the story.
Last but not least, the actions. There are plenty of marshall art movies that blew me away even withouth the benefit of big screen. To name a few, Once Upon a Time in China I & II, Drunden Master II, Fists of Legend and Swordsman II. BTW, Jet Li was originally offered Chow's part. He did not do due to scheduling conflict and Ang Lee had to rewrite the character to tune down the action requirement. Imagine what we would have got if Jet were to star
3 1/2 out of 5.