Great but flawed

Rating: 8/10 (25 December 2000)

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a great movie. It really is. The fight scenes are probably the best ever filmed, the special effects are completely convincing without relying on computers, the performances and production design are without flaw, and the cinematography is gorgeous.
But in all honesty I must report a couple of minor quibbles. First of all, the story is a bit too complex and sometimes the subtitles are too fast to be easily understood. Obviously those problems would be irrelevant after seeing the film more than once, and the film is certainly compelling enough to warrant repeated viewings, so I don't really consider those complaints very important. But even if you completely understood everything, though, the movie would still be flawed. About an hour in, the story is suddenly interrupted by a very long flashback sequence involving the warrior princess and a bandit she encounters in the desert. The sequence is much too long, not very interesting, and very oddly placed, completely stifling the film's momentum for about 25 minutes. Information conveyed in the flashback is definitely vital to the story, but I would have admired the movie much more if that segment had been shorter and more smoothly integrated into the flow of the film.
Really, though, who cares? The movie is excellent and has one of the most oddly powerful endings I've ever seen. Go see it.