Friday, April 1, 2016

Movie Review: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny (2016)

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny (2016) directed by Woo-Ping Yuen


Michele Yeoh returns as Yu Shu Lien, a middle-aged warrior whose life has been drawn to a sword called the Green Destiny. That sword was the point of conflict in the original movie. A new warlord wants to take the sword and use its unbeatable powers for himself. He sends minions to steal the sword. Yu Shu Lien teams up with Silent Wolf (Donnie Yen from Ip Man) to put a team together to defend the sword. The team includes a variety of skills (including a dart thrower and a big guy with metal arm bands) and has many fights as they try to keep the Green Destiny out of the warlord's hands.

The story is fairly basic and follows the typical arc seen in The Dirty Dozen or The Magnificent Seven. The actors are charming though the characters are not well-developed. The fight scenes are fast and fun (no gallons of blood or gratuitous bone-breaking). The movie doesn't have the depth or drama of the original Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, but is an entertaining wuxia action film. It's the sort of film you'd watch on a rainy Saturday afternoon.

The movie is currently (that is, as of April 2016) available only through Netflix. Unlike Daredevil, I don't think this movie is worth subscribing for.

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