Year of Release: 2016
Director: Woo-Ping Yuen
Starring: Michelle Yeoh, Donnie Yen, Harry Shum Jr., Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Jason Scott Lee, Eugenia Yuan, Roger Yuan, JuJu Chan Szeto, Chris Pang, Woon Young Park, Darryl Quon, Veronica Ngo, Gary Young, Andrew Stehlin, Trevor Sai Louie, Angela Chan, Jermaine Yee, Shuya Chang
Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 5
Watch it on Netflix
Synopsis and Review
Director Woo-Ping Yuen has a very lengthy career, both as a film director, but just as importantly, as a stunt coordinator/action director. He was responsible for the stunts on Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill Vol.2" and Stephen Chow's "Kung Fu Hustle", to name but two features from 72 credits he has on his IMDB. "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny" is a sequel to Ang Lee's celebrated and award winning film from 2000, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", with the only remaining character and performer returning being the luminously talented Michelle Yeoh. The narrative focuses on Yu Shu Lien, who after the events of the prior film, still mourns the death of her partner Li Mubai. The legendary Green Destiny sword is being protected by a family and group whom Li Mubai trusted. However, a warlod by the name of Hades Dai has aspirations on the sword, and his counselors who themselves have an hidden agenda behind it, urge him to seize it. He leverages his power over a young man by the name of Wei Fang to retrieve the sword for him, but both Shu Lien, and a young woman by the name of Snow Vase prevent him from doing so. In the meantime, another well known warrior with whom Shu Lien also has a past with, by the name of Silent Wolf, gets involved in the situation, as he is informed that his rival Hades Dai wants to attack the locale where the sword is being held. He arranges for a series of skilled warriors to join him, and they head out to support Shu Lien. They realize they're outnumbered, but are determined not to let the sword fall into Hades' hands.
What was so unique about Ang Lee's film was his ability to tell a story, which much like the best stories that are told, had multiple layers upon which it could be enjoyed. There was a perfect illustration of a kung-fu film with elaborately constructed fight scenes, married with an insightful and historical perspective on clans and rivalries in ancient China, multiple romances with diverse characters, and also a very relevant take on women's roles. There was also a lyricism and poetry to the scenes, that made the film that much more memorable and unique. This sequel does not try to emulate that style or concept. For that matter, it also doesn't try to illustrate the main characters in a fully rounded perspective. Meaning: the intent to this storyline is very clearly the protection of the sword, and preventing a vicious and villainous individual from getting it and wreaking havoc on everyone. The film isn't an array of fight scenes, there are indeed discussions on the honor of warriors, what truly means to be a master, lost romantic attachments that suddenly surface once more, but as far as the characters themselves are concerned, there really isn't much to them beyond what can be considered a footnote of motivation. While bite-sized type of characters can at times be interesting, in this film it ends up not entirely working, since the filmmaker is trying to tie it with its predecessor, which sadly can't really stand up to. In the end, it's not really an all out action film, and it's not a dramatic vehicle, it's something of a hybrid, that works better in its well conceived fight/action scenes, more so than in its dramatic moments. The cast is solid, with highlights going for the always fantastic Michelle Yeoh, who gets good support from Donnie Yen, and Natasha Liu Bordizzo. The production team is solid, including Newton Thomas Sigel's cinematography, Grant Major's production design, and Ngila Dickson's costumes. While not as memorable as its predecessor, it's still a fairly watchable film.
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