Directed by : Woo-Ping Yuen
Written by : John Fusco
Starring : Michelle Yeoh, Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Donnie Yen, Harry Shum Jr.
Release Date : February 18, 2016
The biggest negative going against "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword Of Destiny;" besides the unnecessarily long title, is that it simply does not remotely live up to the epicness and prestige of the previous film. Yuen Woo-Ping at least returned for the fight choreography, but unfortunately I don't think he is fully qualified to also be the primary director of this movie. What we ended up getting here is a sequel that tries to mimic it's predecessor, but comes up very short.
There are several things to complain about with this film. The set locations feel too artificial, which makes the settings feel cheap. The antagonists are uninteresting, and the main villain played by Jason Scott Lee is incredibly underdeveloped. The romantic plot points felt very forced, and unbelievable. Several of the dialogue feel stilted and awkward at times, in it's attempt to sound profound or poetic. The editing, pacing, and tone, were all over the place. Plus the story feels generic and uninspired. I'm sure Kung-Fu movie purists will also feel very annoyed at the fact that this was filmed with the primary dialogue being in English and not Mandarin or Cantonese.
Despite my issues with the movie, I admit that I still found aspects about it that I enjoyed. The cast of actors in general were good in their roles. Michelle Yeoh reprising her role as Yu Shu Lien is a thrill, and Donnie Yen is always entertaining to see in action. I have to give credit to Natasha Liu Bordizzo and Harry Shum Jr who both hold their own very well in the co-starring roles. The fight sequences here may not be as elegantly visualized as it was in the previous film, but they are still enjoyable to watch. I particularly liked the fight scenes involving the theft of the sword of destiny, the tavern battle, and the duel on the frozen lake.
It's too bad that "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword Of Destiny" just turned out to be just another all too typically familiar kung-fu movie, as opposed to the high quality drama of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." I still did have some fun watching it though, despite it's flaws.
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