Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Forget all your preconceived notions of what martial-arts films used to be like. This is what all future martial-arts films should be like."This" would be the breathtaking "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," which could do to the formulaic "chop-socky" picture what "2001: A Space Odyssey" did to the similarly uninspired science-fiction genre, which had previously been the stuff of B-movies.
Of course, it should be pointed out that the genre as a whole has managed to produce a handful of classics (some of Jackie Chan's Hong Kong work, as well as director Tsui Hark's more inspired moments). But this thrilling, at-times tender, and surprisingly intelligent epic makes them all pale in comparison.
The really scary thing about it is that "Crouching Tiger" does so in such a seemingly easy manner — which of course, isn't meant to slight the performers, who certainly didn't have an easy time making the film. In fact, their work is so physically impressive that you may feel exhausted just watching them.
So here's hoping the fact that the film is in a foreign language (Mandarin Chinese, with English subtitles) with faces that are unfamiliar to many American audiences won't discourage them from taking it all in.
After years of combat, Li is ready to settle into a more peaceful existence. So he's decided to retire his legendary weapon, the seemingly indestructible Green Destiny blade, and has charged longtime friend Yu Shu Lien (Michelle Yeoh, from "Tomorrow Never Dies") with keeping it out of the wrong hands.
Unfortunately, a masked thief makes away with the sword in the middle of the night — following a spectacular battle with Shu Lien, of course. And the evidence suggests the culprit may have been the evil Jade Fox (Cheng Pei Pei), Li's longtime nemesis.
However, it turns out the blade was actually stolen by her protégé, warrior-in-training Jen Yu (newcomer Zhang Ziyi), who can't decide what to do with it. On one hand, she feels guilty about taking it from her newfound friend, Shu Lien. But if she keeps the Green Destiny, she may be able to escape the marriage her parents have arranged.
That probably sounds like enough plot for your standard martial-arts film, but there are several more running subplots, including the long unspoken passion between Yu and Shu Lien, as well as the seemingly ill-fated romance between Jen and Lo (Chang Chen), a Mongolian horseman.
Add to that an almost poetic script (by Wang Hui Ling, Tsai Kuo Jung and James Schamus, whose Mandarin-to-English subtitle translations are very well done), Tan Dun's gorgeous score and spectacular action scenes.
Perhaps what's most surprising about the action is that the film comes from a director (Ang Lee) whose work has been dominated by character pieces and period dramas ("Sense and Sensibility," "The Ice Storm"). However, seeing this, you have to wonder what took him so long to try action on for size.
Speaking of "why-haven't-they-done-this-before?" concepts, the initial pairing of Chow and Yeoh, who were both huge stars in Hong Kong before coming overseas, pays big dividends.
Not only do they have the physical presence needed for their roles, their chemistry makes the relationship between their characters extremely believable and almost heartbreaking.
If you had to say one performer really stands out here, though, it's Yeoh, who even manages to outshine Zhang, though Zhang will definitely be a huge star after this.
"Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" is rated PG-13 for nonstop martial-arts violence, including hand-to-hand combat and weapons battles, brief gore (nongraphic) and a brief, fairly discreet, sex scene. Running time: 120 minutes.
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