Review
View credits and pictures of Crouching Tiger,Hidden Dragon
Already a hit in Asia, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon received numerous
praises and enthusiastic response during its' screening at the Cannes Film
Festival and it's set to open in US and Europe this Christmas
Fortunately I was able to catch the film back home in Malaysia during the
summer break and let me say this: it's superior to the over-hyped
M:I-2
(sorry John!). I know this film has nothing to do with
John Woo
but it's simply too good to be ignored.
Ang Lee did say that directing a kung-fu fantasy epic has always been one of
his childhood dream. I think he achieved it brilliantly with Crouching Tiger.
Although I'm no kungfu fan myself,I enjoy Crouching Tiger temendously.
The cinematography handled by Peter Pau (who also handled the cameras for
Woo's
The Killer)
is simply breathless and the action chereography by Wo-Ping is flawless.
Of course,having Chow Yun-Fat and Michelle Yeoh as leads are added bonuses but I must stress
that the real star here is the lovely Zhang Ziji. She handled her role well
and manage to hold her own during scenes with veterans Chow and Yeoh.
Although only starring in her second film, Zhang Ziji shows promise of being
China's biggest film export since Gong Li.
Although I'm singing praises for this film, it does have its' flaws in some
areas. Ang Lee may be a masterful director of epics and dramas but he's
still a novice when it comes to action films.This being his first action
picture, he handled it well although his weakness does surface every now and
then. The martial arts sequences are beautiful to look at but most of them
drags on for far too long. Any action film fan can tell you that beautiful
action sequences loses its' appeal if it carries on for too long.
This aside, the film is simply superb and definitely worth catching.