Moral of the Story

Rating: 10/10 (4 December 2000)

Though I have seen many movies of the wuxia genre (think of it as the Chinese old west with some historical significances thrown in from time to time), I have somehow grasp the human drama for the first time. Behind all the great fighting sequences and posturing between two great warriors in a duel, the wuxia genre is always dramatic, noble and tragic. Yes, the fight is always between good and evil. The choice between our young heroine's responsibility to her family and her personal desires are embodied in the magical sword as the means to her freedom to choose. As the master Liu Mui Bai tries to teach her that the power of the sword resonates only thru the righteous owner that uses it with discipline. Whatever virtues one might be able to draw from such analogies, the story always contain a moral.
Because wuxia always contain characters that struggles with those sins, the battle, therefore, is always between the good and evil. Indeed, the movie does apologizes for itself in the over-exagerated martial arts in a scene where Michelle Yeoh explains a heroes code of ethic to the young Jen. The fighting action sequences serves as eye candy but a good wuxia movie will always explore the main character's development as a human being to capture the audiences' endearment in a dramatic fashion.
The moral of the story is not hard to grasp. Much like the comic book hero Spiderman when he discovered his powers that "With great powers comes great responsibilities" which was only realized after the death of his uncle Ben. Thus, only thru tragic turns of events can the person learn the consequences of his/her wicked ways and that is the main point.
Crouching Tiger and Hidden Dragon should open up the wuxia genre to the American audience by a recognized director Ang Lee. I don't think this film is a masterpiece because it is not a timepiece of the human condition. This is a good action drama that might open the floodgate to already made wuxia movies much like the re-released Jackie Chan flicks.