Absolutely excellent performances, but not as great as hailed

Rating: 6/10 (19 January 2001)

Too many people have been hailing this movie as one of the best, most inspiring, uplifting stories that they have ever been intro duced to. Well, the acting was 4 star worthy, absolutely perfect. However, the action scenes, as entertaining as they were, were too obviously Matrix-produced. The scenes were also EXTREMELY unrealistic in some cases. No, not the end, which was supposed to be "mystical," but the scene in which Chow-Yun Fat and the selfish young girl jump out of the three story building (WITHOUT A TOUCHING A WALL)and "fly" across a lake (only touching the surface once, I might add) absolutely disgusted me. Yet, it was compensated for in the beautiful, breathtaking tree scene. Also, the part where the governor's daughter wipes out a sleaze filled restaurant was so poorly done, with overwhelming slapstick you would find in a jackie chan crossover-American movie. You'd think you were watching "Rush Hour" or "Shanghai Noon," which were entertaining in a different sense. This film had the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen. The end featured the devastatingly haunting battle in the swaying trees, the utopian melodious echoes of the cascading river, and best of all the very end featured the Wu-something mountain. This shot is so breathtaking(I can not think of adjectives to describe its beauty).
3/4 (***/****)- The slapstick and gimmicky effects, and non- believable action scenes really hurt the film