Impressive achievement

Rating: 9/10 (2 January 2001)

Ang Lee returns to his roots with this tale about a stolen sword and clashing loyalties among a group of swordfighters. In Mandarin Chinese with English subtitles, but that isn't as hard to follow as might be usual. The film is mostly about overly stylized fight sequences similar to those from "The Matrix' and it delivers in that respect, though the action never seems at all realistic or plausible. Some surprisingly effective moments between the actors hold things together and the direction is flawless. Overall a fairly impressive achievement. GRADE: A-