by Brendan Foley
Two Cents
Two Cents is an original column akin to a book club for films. The Cinapse team will program films and contribute our best, most insightful, or most creative thoughts on each film using a maximum of 200 words each. Guest writers and fan comments are encouraged, as are suggestions for future entries to the column. Join us as we share our two cents on films we love, films we are curious about, and films we believe merit some discussion.
The Pick
It’s been almost two decades since Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon exploded onto screens (Fun Fact: You’re old), bringing the arthouse to the action and summoning audiences and awards by the droves. By merging high-flying wuxia action with gorgeous cinematography and a deeply felt, almost-operatic, story of repression and legacy, Lee and his collaborators broke past the language barrier and delivered one of the most influential masterpieces of the Aughts.
Now it’s sixteen years later (again: you are old) and the band is getting back together on Netflix!
Well, no. Michelle Yeoh alone returns for the sequel, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny. Stepping in for Lee is Yuen Wo Ping, the legendary action director (and fight choreographer of such films as The Matrix, Kill Bill and, well, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), while Donnie Yen takes over for Chow-Yun Fat as this movie’s brooding warrior silently longing after Michelle Yeoh.
The story once again concerns a plot to steal The Green Destiny, a legendary sword said to have almost-mystical properties. The battle for the sword draws in Yeoh’s Yu Shu Lien, Yen’s Silent Wolf, and a host of colorful kung fu characters.
Sword of Destiny has the action, but does it bring the soul that made the original film so remarkable? We put it to the team to tell us whether the crouching tiger still sings or the hidden dragon…doesn’t…sing…OK, that one got away from us. Anyway, on to the Two Cents!
Did you get a chance to watch along with us this week? Want to recommend a great (or not so great) film for the whole gang to cover? Comment below or post on our Facebook or hit us up on Twitter!
Next Week’s Pick:
In a career that spanned six decades, George Kennedy established himself as the character actor’s character actor. Kennedy could inhabit any role of any size with personality and history, investing everything from generals to cowboys to pilots to Leslie Nielson’s captain in Naked Gun with real, appreciable life.
Kennedy passed away this week, so in tribute we will be watching the irresistibly charming Charade, Stanley Donen’s candy-colored caper that finds Audrey Hepburn as a new widow on the run across Europe from an ever-growing network of criminals and conspirators that include Kennedy, James Coburn, and Cary goddamn Grant.
Charade is streaming on Netflix, and we hope you’ll join us!
Would you like to be a guest in next week’s Two Cents column? Simply watch and send your under-200-word review to twocents(at)cinapse.co!
Our Guests
Trey Lawson: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was my first wuxia film. More importantly, it was an international phenomenon and critical darling. It would be difficult for any sequel to follow that reputation, especially after 16 years. But even with lowered expectations, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny disappoints. Michelle Yeoh and Donnie Yen bring needed gravitas and chemistry to their scenes, and it’s fun seeing former Bruce Lee biopic star Jason Scott Lee as the villainous Hades Dai. Unfortunately everything else about the film is mediocre. The fight sequences are passable, but not memorable; not one sequence comes close to the visual poetry of the original film. The plot, with its secrets revealed through flashbacks & protracted exposition, feels more convoluted than necessary — especially considering I never found myself caring much about any of the characters other than Yeoh and Yen. The film was shot in English with New Zealand locations ineffectively standing in for China, which makes it feel less “authentic” than other Chinese martial arts films. I guess the problem is that everything about this film feels generic, and I often found myself reminded of other, better wuxia films. Sword of Destiny is unfortunately a watered-down martial arts film, whether due to budget limitations or to deliberately homogenize it for Western audiences I don’t know. The script, performances, and fight choreography lack any sort of distinctive character. The problem is not that Sword of Destiny is terrible. Rather, when the object is spectacle, to be prosaic is even worse than badness. (@T_Lawson)
Jaime Burchardt: I kinda feel like I need to mention this before I begin to deal with Sword of Destiny: I really like but do not love Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. It’s a fine film, and Ang Lee did solid work, but it’s not my favorite of his. Having said that, Sword of Destiny gives me a whole new appreciation to the first installment. Lee’s film had a sturdy story, grace, and patience. This new chapter almost feels like it wants to be a lazy bizarro twin on purpose. Not too long ago, I commented that I felt Netflix wasn’t pushing this title as hard as it has with past movies and TV shows (thank you Brendan for backing me up on that), but I can see why now. Yes, we get a lot of fight choreography but the story takes a huge backseat to this, and what kills me more is the style of the fighting. Not that it’s been done before, but because it’s been done so much better. Lack city almost all around. I will end this one with one positive note: it does look gorgeous. (@jaimeburchardt)
The Team
Justin: I can’t remember much about the original film. I vaguely remember thinking it felt like a traditional martial arts film set in an ancient Chinese dynasty done in a style not to dissimilar to The Matrix. Thus, I basically went into this sequel pretty blind.
I was pleasantly surprised to see it filmed in English, as I’d spent much of my day reading training materials at work and was hoping to immerse myself in the film without having to read subtitles. I’m sure this contributed to my enjoyable experience, though the dialogue took a substantial backseat to the visuals in this gorgeous film.
Overall, the story was forgettable and the film was simply okay, but I’d gladly watch it again in a year or two as the look of the film was fantastic, even as some of the fights feel like throwaway scenes. Even in the periods between the action, the visuals were alluring.
In short, it’s a perfectly okay film that looks good but doesn’t really have too many other superlatives worth mentioning. (@thepaintedman)
Elizabeth: One treasured memory from my year in Minnesota is seeing Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon on opening weekend at Uptown Theatre in Minneapolis. I’d thought his Sense & Sensibility wonderful, but Ang Lee’s 2000 film was beyond beautiful, with stunning cinematography, haunting musical themes, and a powerful story at the center.
I expected the 2016 sequel to be lacking because a) Lee isn’t directing, b) none of the same screenwriters are involved, and c) only one of the original actors returned. This sequel is in English, when the original was in Mandarin. This questionable change threw me so much that I switched to “Chinese (audio)” and watched with captions on. Not only is much of the mystery and indefinable beauty missing here, but the lyricism is gone as well.
There are points in time where Sword of Destiny comes in vague vicinity of the mastery of the original: Snow Vase tells Wei Fang of his true origins, Wei Fang and Silent Wolf fight on a frozen lake. The shorter run-time means we barely know the characters (besides Yeoh’s Shu Lien). The disappointing lighting/preponderance of night-time scenes means we barely see them either. It’s not the same, and not even close enough. (@elizs)
Wilson: [Editor’s Note: This should read “The Award-Winning” Wilson Smith, since Messr. Smith and the team behind Krisha picked up the John Cassavetes Award at last week’s Independent Spirit Awards. Woo-hoo Wilson!] When I first learned of this film’s existence, I felt something between pity and disgust. Who exactly was asking for a sequel to Ang Lee’s original masterpiece? Who, more than 15 years after the first film broke box-office records, was hungering for a cheap cash-grab that would premiere day-and-date on Netflix of all places?
Therefore I’m relieved to report that Sword of Destiny is not the disgrace it had the potential to be. Directed by veteran fight choreographer and filmmaker Yuen Wo Ping, and starring legends Michelle Yeoh and Donnie Yen, the film is an entertainingly pulpy retread of the same story and emotional beats as the original. Visually the film is often sumptuous, and the fights — while unfortunately aided too much by CGI — still have that balletic gracefulness that characterized the first film’s action. It’s a B movie through and through, whereas Lee’s film consciously elevated the material. But there’s absolutely nothing wrong in my book with a 2016 martial arts epic from the director of Iron Monkey, particularly with Yeoh and Yen in the lead. (@SailorGoodspeed)
Ed: What an interesting project. Clearly co-financed with Chinese and Western money, Sword Of Destiny looks to create a franchise out of a film which was a smash hit, without question, but which hit 16 years ago. That it’s being distributed via Netflix, stars A-listers Donnie Yen (new) and Michelle Yeoh (returning), is directed by master choreographer Yuen Wo-Ping, and yet also written and produced by many westerners, is something of a sign of things to come.
How’s the film itself? There’s no doubt it’s a step down from the original film. Wo-Ping is a fantastic action director but his soul for story isn’t quite what Ang Lee’s is. Yeoh brings an elegance and romanticism well beyond what’s written on the page for her, but what begins as unquestionably her film quickly becomes Yen’s. And I love Donnie Yen, doing wonderful work here, it’s just unfortunate that his character eclipses Yeoh’s as the lead. There’s beauty, fantasy, aching romanticism, and masterful choreography on display here that’s tonally akin to its predecessor. But there’s also a clumsiness and pedestrianism to be found as well, never allowing the film to be transcendent, but rather simply competent. (@Ed_Travis)
Brendan: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon doesn’t hold the same place in my heart as it does for many others, seeing as how I was introduced to the wuxia subgenre by the films which achieved stateside distribution after its success (Zhang Yimou’s Hero is to me what I assume Dragon is for other people) but it’s impossible not to acknowledge what a stunning achievement Lee’s film is.
Sword of Destiny isn’t just lousy compared to the original film, it’s lousy compared to Yuen Wo Ping’s own films like Iron Monkey or True Legend. Utterly flat and lacking in energy, Destiny shrugs its way through a hollow, overly-convoluted retread of the first film’s plot and thematic concerns, building to a conclusion that doesn’t even have the balls to follow through on the first film’s heartbreak. Other than an early, Iron Monkey-esque brawl and a late-in-the-game duel on a frozen lake, not even Wo Ping’s infallible sense of action choreography is up to snuff. (@TheTrueBrendanF)
Austin:As I read our entries this week, I find myself nodding in agreement with nearly all of them. Sword Of Destiny is neither the masterpiece that fans would hope for, nor anywhere near the dismal trainwreck that it could have been. On paper it sounds rather dire: a westernized English language approach, a direct-to-streaming release strategy, and the absence of original director Ang Lee (replaced by Yuen Wo Ping, who is legendary in his own right, but a much better action choreographer than storyteller).
Perhaps I’m being too generous because it’s been years since I’ve watched the original film, but I found Sword Of Destinty, while not a match for the first film’s poetic soul, to be a perfectly decent martial arts tale. The storytelling is a bit rushed with underdeveloped characters (I really would have liked to get closer to cool B characters like Turtle Ma, for example), and the digitalness of it all — CG environments, annoying fanciful color-timing — felt a bit tacky, but there’s a lot to like as well. Michelle Yeoh’s character experienced a tragic loss the first time around, and the best part of this follow-up is the idea of a second chance at love. The secondary plot of a pair of mysteriously connected younger characters is also intriguing, the revelation of which I found was quite affecting.
As an aside, I flitted between the English and Chinese audio options, finding neither to be the clearly superior version, but slightly preferring the Chinese aesthetically and for continuity’s sake. (@VforVashaw)
Did you all get a chance to watch along with us? Share your thoughts with us here in the comments or on Twitter or Facebook!