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| B+ B+ B+ | |
| Review by Xibo | Date seen: December 22, 2000 |
| Viewing Location: Chelsea, NYC | Grade: B+ |
| Summary: Not bad for a subtitled flick... | |
| Well it's certainly not the excellent masterpiece the critics would have you believe, but I liked it a lot. I'd say it's a very good film. The movie wavers between love story and martial arts flick, and the wire-fu work was waaaay over the top. You should definitely see this though, the special effects, sets, landscapes, and combat scenes are quite stunning. It's sad that the movie is such a collision between "The Shaolin Master" and "Sense and Sensibility" that the result is a train wreck and it's hard to really care about the characters. I didn't find the movie very inspiring, sighing as I left the theater.
Okay next time, let's take the choreographer, cinematographer, and cast and put them into a different movie with a different director, something more interesting and exciting... and let's send Ang Lee back to chick-flick-land, maybe working for the Lifetime channel... | |
| A+ A+ A+ | |
| Review by Jigen | Date seen: December 30, 2000 |
| Viewing Location: Bellingham - Sehome | Grade: A+ |
| Summary: A beautiful, beautiful film | |
| Incredible cinemetography is the cherry on top to this brilliantly devised story of lost loves, set in ancient China. Yes it is subtitled (there is a dubbed version - which seems to lose some of the power of the original), but a great score also helps to move the scenes that need that extra oomph. Some of the action scenes require you to suspend disbelief and sometimes they can become so overbearing as to be almost campy. There is a great backstory that is comfortably fleshed out in right at 2 hours - something American films sometimes have trouble doing in under 3. It's brilliant work that they can weave such a moving and emotional story together with a compelling action element. The only flaw that I recall is the ending that seemed to confuse a lot of people, but like many foreign films they want you to come up with your own conclusions. American audiences are more used to a nice tidy bow at the end of films. I came to this expecting a mostly action experience and walked away having seen an amazing story. | |
| A- A- A- | |
| Review by hughjtoad | Date seen: February 5, 2001 |
| Viewing Location: Saratoga, CA | Grade: A- |
| Summary: Dreamlike | |
| I liked this movie a lot. It is great to see massive swordfighting and mystical contemplation at the same time. All of the main characters are very well-acted, and the pace of the movie is nice. Chow Yun Fat is excellent, especially considering he's never donea martial arts movie before. The way the various actors fight matches perfectly with who their characters are supposed to be. | |
| B B B | |
| Review by Orion | Date seen: June 10, 2001 |
| Viewing Location: Orion's Bedroom | Grade: B |
| Summary: Super Brat Kicks ALL their asses... | |
| Until Chow Yun Fat shows up. The fight scenes and landscapes are the only things that save this rather long drawn out movie. It's like Mortal Kombat, only with no techno, and the arrogance to think it might be serious. | |
"I should put quotes here."