Fantastic Film of 2000, But Not The Film of 2000

Rating: 7/10 (11 February 2001)

I saw this movie last night and I must say, this was an excellent movie. It wasn't one of those movies that was all special effects and no story. I was really pleased. However, I don't think it was the best film of the year.
The story begins where Chow Yun Fat (some of the movie names are hard to remember) is telling Michelle Yeoh how he's giving the Green Destiny (a really nifty sword that's extremely powerful) to Sir Te, who lives in Peking. So Michelle takes it to Sir Te and meets Governor Yu's daughter, Jen, who is about to marry by arrangement, not by choice, which she's not too happy about. But then the Green Destiny is stolen by one of Jade Fox's (she's a criminal that a lot of people are after) assistants, and now Chow Yun Fat and Michelle Yeoh are trying to get it back while also dealing with Jen and her rebellious ways.
The story was good, and so was the dialogue. But it's not worthy of any screenplay awards or anything. It wasn't really good at keying with you like the dialogue in films like "Traffic" or other emotional tappers.
The acting was great. Chow Yun Fat, Michelle Yeoh, and the players of Jen, Sir Te, and Jade Fox all gave great performances. My personal favorite was Lo, Jen's secret lover. While he didn't have the biggest role, he added some comic relief to the movie and the actor who portrayed him gave Lo a sense of charm and politeness behind his somewhat "rebel" ways.
This was a cinematic beauty. The special effects were breathtaking, the music was wonderful, and the camera placements were well-done. It ranks up there on my list of cinematic greats, along with films like "Traffic" and "Psycho".
This was certainly one of the year's best. But it lacked the "oomph" that would qualify this movie for Best Picture. My personal pick for best film is still "Traffic". But this film is definitely a close second.
9/10, mainly because the beginning was a little slow.