IslandGuru Who payed the critics

ScoobyMint Disappointment for a huge fan!

Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic

FrogGlace In other words,this film is a surreal ride.

kosmasp A kind of a throwback with characters that may remind you of Shaw Brothers movies. So it tries to combine the old with some new stuff. Especially the fact that this was filmed in English may alienate some people. But overall I do believe it works. It does have a returning Michelle Yeoh (ageless) who is great in this too. In addition we get Donnie Yen and his craftsmanship.The action choreography is good and there is flying again (so if you didn't like the first one or thought it was ridiculous and "unreal", don't watch this either). The story is simple and while Yeoh's character admits that at one point, she almost redacts her point entirely at the end. Some may say she changed her mind. Whatever it is, the movie is more than decent enough, while never reaching the heights of the original (no pun intended).

tttito Not a masterpiece like the first, but a solid movie. It lacks the magic elegance of Ang Lee's film, but, although the original language is English, it feels somehow more authentically Chinese.In a world were evil is real and eternal, an unavoidable aspect of human destiny, the baddies are more than caricatures, tragic figures themselves. I may add that I have a feeble for Asian "femmes fatales", so that the duo Blind Enchantress (Eugenia Yuan) and Mantis (Veronica Ngo) proved irresistible.Add to that a couple of technically memorable fight scenes, some good jokes and the movie, despite its recurrent clumsiness, raises unmistakably above mediocrity.

blackmamba99971 For the most part I have always been a fan of this genre about old school martial arts. When Ang Lee directed the first film it brought about a new way at looking to new angles during a fight scene. Now since Chow Yun Fat did not star in this second sequel he probably thought of this as nothing more than a reach with the script. It was very loose with primal dialogue, and very monotone actors. Though I am a big fan of both Michelle Yeoh, and Donny Yen. Each are extremely versatile actors when it comes to action. This brought me to the sudden conclusion that Yuen Wo Ping must look at the first film, and deduce what went wrong in this second part of the series. There was hardly any wide angles like Ang used. Too much close contact, which split off of what we saw in the first movie with beautiful ballet fight sequences on or off the ground. There was a lot of acrobatics to be sure but nothing close enough to the original. The story itself was also loose.Not enough interaction with the supporting actors or enough flash backs. Still using the two younger actors was much like this first film except in plot for them. I found it to be closely resembling the first with added pizazz, and it didn't do anything for me. High flying acrobatics was not bad, but pushed to the limits. There was also too much focus on foot work during a fight, which said overcompensation to an action scene. Nobody is interested in foot work, just the impact of two people fighting with grace, and style. As for the music it was stationary. Some drum work mixed in with the orchestra, but it could have used more old world style in a fight scene or rather during a scene switch. With Ang Lee he went everywhere. Deep into the jungles, top of mountains, court yard fights, or river scenes. And he used wide angles to get that just right picture which combined with the rest of the natural elements.All in all, this wasn't a bad film but locations could have been better. I did not like the outside tavern scene. It was too obvious, loosely set up without added decoration to make it look more rustic. To me it looked like someone rented a bunch of plywood, and slapped it together. Not a bad summer filler, for those who like fights this is it. Donnie is at his best when it comes to martial arts. As well as Michelle Yeoh, and Jason Scott Lee. Yet I would have preferred it in authentic Chinese Language from every actor like the first film.

rcolgan Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon remains one of the greatest martial arts films ever made. The breath-taking cinematography and graceful fighting sequences led it to become the highest grossing film in a foreign language in North America, helped open up the west to Asian cinema and is quite simply a masterpiece. But sadly The Sword of Destiny seems to capture very little of the beauty that made Crouching Tiger so incredible and instead feels more like an attempt to cash in on the legacy of Ang Lee's original film. Taking place 18 years after the original film, Shu Lien (Michelle Yeoh) returns to defend the sword Green Destiny once again, this time from the evil Lord Hades (Jason Scott Lee). She is assisted by Silent Wolf (Donnie Yen), her ex fiancé who she believed was dead. Meanwhile a young woman known as Snow Vase (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) who is training under Shu Lien begins to fall for Wei Fang (Harry Shun Jr), a young thief who attempted to steal the sword for Hades. The film rehashes several story beats from the original film but recreates them with far weaker characterisation and lacks the same depth of its predecessor. The only returning cast member from the first film is Michelle Yeoh, who does deliver a good performance by bringing the same wisdom and nobility that she bought to the first film. However every other character suffers from a screenplay that is incapable of doing anything other than filling up time until the next action sequence. The main romance in the film between the two young lovers is never able to create any real chemistry. Even Donnie Yen, one of the greatest Chinese action stars, is unable to do anything with his little screen time and the incredibly bland script other than fight and look stoic. The cinematography mixed with the vast landscapes looks nice at times, but at others the film suffered heavily from an overuse of CGI that feels like a very misguided departure from the natural beauty of the original film. Also instead of being filmed in Mandarin like the original film, the actors instead all speak English. Obviously this is done to appeal to a wider demographic, but it ends up distancing itself even further from the tone of the original film. Out of everyone who could direct a sequel to Crouching Tiger, Woo- Ping Yuen could at first seem like a good choice. He's directed some of the greatest action films from China (including Drunken Master and Iron Monkey) and was even the action choreographer for the original Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. And he is able to pull of some great fight sequences throughout the film, including one creative sequence battling along a frozen lake. But as impressive as the fight choreography is, it never recaptures the tone of the original Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Whereas the fights in Crouching Tiger played out like a delicate dance through which two warriors communicated, Sword of Destiny is an impressive display of fighting skill and stunt work, but nothing much else. Also whilst Woo-Ping Yuen is quite possibly one of the greatest action directors of all time, his style just wasn't suited here. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon wasn't really an action movie. It was a romantic drama cleverly disguised as a martial arts flick. But Sword of Destiny is instead just an action movie with a weak romantic sub-plot tacked on.