Good film, BAD martial arts

Rating: Null/10 (27 April 2001)

Taken into the context of Chinese film-making, the story was good and poetic, and an ending Hollywood would not approve of (they love happy endings after all.) However, the greatest king-fu film ever made? BULL! FIST OF THE WHITE LOTUST was better. SO was ENTER THE DRAGON. ENCOUNTERS OF THE SPOOKY KIND, CHINESE SUPERNINJAS, even LEGEND OF THE SEVEN GOLDEN VAMPIRES were better king fu films than CTHD basically because the martial arts were real, performed by REAL martial artists, not by cables, wires and CGI. There are some moments of brilliance in the film as far as choreography, but overall I was mostly disappointed by the phony stunts Hollywood wants you to believe is great kung fu. The story itself is the saving grace of it, and it only served to make the fake kung-fu all the more disappointing since if the likes of Gordon Liu, Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, and even Lam Chin Ying were doing the choreography, would have made the film THE BEST in king fu. Alas, it is only a pretender. I think of guys like Liu or Lee or Chan who gave their bodies to make excellent kung fu, realistic kung fu. This film is an insult to the men (and women) who didn't need wires or CGI to make themselves look good. They only needed their skills, which made them all the more legendary. And for anyone who says these wires and flying scenes are part of Chinese culture, I ask where were al these flying scenes in kung fu films 10, 20, even 30 years ago? And the young girl in the film? Such a snotty and arrogant heroine is the reason why I can't take female leads seriously in Hollywood films, because they over exaggerate their toughnes and independence from men that they fail to realize if we don't like them or relate to them, we're not gonna care about them, and sure I enough not only did I not care for the girl, but I ended up despising her since her actions led to tragedy in the film. However, CTHD is a good film for the handling of the material, but if you're looking for good kung fu, look elsewhere. If you're looking for a good herione, be disappointed. The story itself deserves a peak.