Haven't I seen this before?

Rating: 7/10 (14 March 2004)

While this is far from a bad movie, it is certainly one of the most over rated films of the last ten or fifteen years. I don't hate this movie, I just can't understand why this film was noticed when China and the rest of the Orient are turning out films equal to, if not better than this one.
The story of pairs of lovers is interesting but its nothing that hasn't been told before and gave the film a strong sense of deja vu. I was marking off how many plot points in my head I got right while I watched the film and found I was pretty much right down the line.
(A side note, this is based on, I think, the fourth book in a series so there are numerous references to events that happened earlier between characters. While this gives a sense of the characters being grounded it also is frustrating since there seems to be many times events in this film are echoing events in the past)
If you've been watching Hong Kong films (or even Hollywood films over the past few years for that matter) you've seen the wire work that wowed many people when this film first came out. For many people the technical brilliance of something they have never been exposed to is the selling point. For me it was just been there done that.
In the end I was left wondering if that was all there, and apparently it was.
Despite my disappointment I suggest you try it. Just don't expect the bells and whistles.