A sweeping martial arts epic!

Rating: 8/10 (27 December 2004)

I had heard so much about Ang Lee's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" that I practically refused to see it. Fortunately, I finally came to my senses. "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" is a wonderful film! This movie is most-often associated with its spectacular battle scenes, and I would be lying if I said that they were anything less than magnificent. Yuen Wo-Ping, choreographer of the martial arts sequences for this film and "The Matrix," out-does himself in terms of creativity with his work here. I personally felt that the fight in the trees toward the end of the film was one of the films many highlights. The intensity of the duel between Yu Shu Lien (Michelle Yeoh) and Jen Yu (Ziyi Zhang) was absolutely captivating. The fights would be pointless though, if not for the powerful story that holds the film together. A master swordsman named Li Mu Bai (Yun Fat Chow) must recover a stolen sword with the help of his longtime comrade, Yu Shu Lien. They soon discover that the thief is not quite who they thought it was, which makes recovering the sword much more difficult and dangerous than either of them could have imagined. The story seems very basic, but it really isn't. The performances do much to bring it all to life. The grace of Michelle Yeoh is daunting enough, but when she unsheathes her sword, the word, "daunting" is redefined. The very young and very beautiful Ziyi Zhang gives a very passionate performance as Jen Yu. Pei-pei Cheng provides the film with the deadly Jade Fox. Yun Chow Fat plays a very reserved master swordsman, anchoring emotional performances from everyone else. "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" definitely lives up to the hype; 10 Oscar Nominations can't be wrong!