Not As Good As Is Made Out Down To One Reason

Rating: 6/10 (5 April 2004)

I finally got around to seeing CROUCHING TIGER , HIDDEN DRAGON at the weekend . It`s a movie of almost legendary status but I was slightly disappointed with it for one reason that I`ll come to shortly . First of all may I just point out that there`s a lot of acclaim that is justified , it`s a beautifully made film down to its technical areas like the cinematography ( Check out the final stunning scene ) the editing , the soundtrack and the choregraphy . It also has a sense of humour best summed up in the scene at the tea house but this scene - Indeed the whole movie - is let down by something and that something is this : It`s obvious the fleet footed characters are being pulled up and down on a harness . No matter how much the production team try to disguise it it`s obvious this is how the technique is achieved and spoiled the film for me greatly

Am I cruel cynic ? Well maybe but think about this : Would LORD OF THE RINGS have been such a sucess if it was painfully obvious that Gollum was a CGI character ? Never once did I believe Gollum was anything less than a real character . Even to this day I have visions that Gollum now sits at home anxiously waiting for Peter Jackson to ring him to tell him he`s starring in THE HOBBIT , that`s how convincing he was to me , but CROUCHING TIGER , HIDDEN DRAGON fails because as soon as I saw characters running over roof tops and along tree branches I realised I was watching people on wires . A great pity because there is so much to admire in this film