If you thought the only real place for gravity-defying fight scenes was The Matrix, you are wrong. One of the most diverse filmmakers today Ang Lee has not only found the perfect place to combat such – the classic martial arts movie – but has injected its action with poetry and meaning. In martial arts movie Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon star Chow Yun-Fat and Michelle Yeoh zip gracefully in the air in this wonderful Chinese fable about love, loyalty, and fate.
It’s hard not to get driven out of this work in the film. And fatal to the romance, the legendary themes of honor and determination, strong heroines, and Oh yes, the butt-kicking action.
The first martial arts scenes hit the screen with a beam of energy and magic, which allows this is not your father chopsocky movie. An ancient sword was stolen from a respected family, Yu Shu Lien and Guerrero goes and hits a woman masked burglar. The fighting scenes masterfully choreographed by Yuen Woo-ping, the man behind the Matrix have the level of Kung Fu and push-pull, but there is a wave of surprise when the two women suddenly jump through the village, flying rooftop to rooftop.
It seems that they are followers of a former education that has raised the battle at the expert level. Yu Shu understand completely, making her a love interest, Li Mu Bai. But the evil Jade Fox, wanted for the crime, only knows the basics, unable to understand the higher concepts. It means that frustrations with her and the badge of having killed Li Mu mentor.
Although it has a lot of background meets melodrama, the second plot is the plot – Jade Fox disciple is beautiful Jen, an aristocrat with a sensitive heart, but the heart of a fighter. Is preparing to marry wealth, but dreams of when he was a lone warrior that showcases his incredible fighting skills and fall in love with The Pirate Lo.
Lee stable of writers has expanded a great story that does justice to the genre, but it would have been helped by clarity. The stories are so far apart in the center of the film’s occasional confusion is the result of the writing team attempts to overload a movie that does not need to fill.
Despite this, most of the rest of this martial arts movie is truly a miracle, especially the amazing action scenes. Hard, whip-fast martial arts moves to get otherworldliness when fighters start to jump and fly. Smooth swirling arms and legs will be a big yardage scenes, at the right time camera moves again to create a new level of performance. Battle until you hit some early cries of “Wow!” to the public for a small hard-ass critics.
Cinematographer Peter Pau adds its own quality of dream sequences by bathing the night in a blue moon-lit glow, and Tim Yip design makes you feel like you can go right into an old village or hideaway Desert Cave. Give more credit to Lee for his perfect casting – Chow and Yeoh convey noble and learned and Zhang and Chen Chang has the energy and intensity necessary for parts demanding. All four contracts with the physical work as soldiers, and whatever your preference, they sure are easy on the eyes. As young Jen wanders the countryside in the middle of the film, if you have not already fallen in love with it, you shameless when it blows shit a restaurant together.
A centerpiece later, the film is a perfect reflection of its beauty – swordfight among the wispy treetops, soaring and climbing to the quiet strains of cellist Yo-Yo Ma. It combines an ancient style of combat, a futuristic feel, and a fateful story of love and need.
