Good, hardly great.

Rating: Null/10 (21 January 2001)

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is probably one of the best films of 2000. I'm not sure if that says more about 2000 than it does about CTHD, but there is no doubt that Ang Lee is a master story teller, and that he certainly has a good story to tell. The cinematography was wonderful, the music was elegant, and appropriate. The acting was first class, the fight scenes were magical, and the theme was intriguing. As an American viewer, I found the central plot to be universal, in that most cultures have traditions, and with these traditions, arise the conflicts between chasing ones dreams and respecting ones culture. This theme is central enough to each of us, allowing most viewers to relate.
That said, I think the flaw in this movie is the general "hokiness." Many scenes (particularly the final scenes) were over-dramatized, and the plot sequence seemed to make the fight scenes convenient. As an American viewer, I am used to the general "hokiness" of supermarket romance novels converted to film. In some sense, this film is similar, at least that's the impression I had at times. I'm not sure how this film was received in China, but from the various user comments I read, I would be safe in making the analogy CTHD:Chine::Titanic:America.
A good film? Yes. A great film? Hardly.