#BLADE OF THE NIGHT DESTINY MOVIE#

Mirroring the original so closely is a poor decision, not just because it implies this script was written by a mathematical algorithm, but because that original was such a masterpiece. вЂWhen no one is attacking anyone the players up on the screen may as well be looking at their watches.вЂ™ Photograph: Supplied They get into a fantastic, humour-laced bar brawl thatвЂ™s a real highlight until you remember that Zhang Ziyi got into a bar brawl in Ang LeeвЂ™s picture. Silent WolfвЂ™s gang, who present themselves in a blatant Fellowship of the Ring вЂњand my axe!вЂќ retread, includes a burly boozer named Thunder Fist and a sprightly gal named Silver Dart. Many of those fights are, it should be said, entertaining.

#BLADE OF THE NIGHT DESTINY MOVIE#

This is a dour, dull movie and when no one is attacking anyone the players up on the screen may as well be looking at their watches saying: вЂњHey, know when weвЂ™re gonna fight? YouвЂ™re paying us to fight, right?вЂќ But heвЂ™s not dead! Does this lead to a raging romance between the two? No, nothing so human as that.

They are led by Silent Wolf (Donnie Yen), who, weвЂ™ll learn, was the guy to whom Shu Lien was engaged (and was Chow Yun-FatвЂ™s characterвЂ™s best pal) but then he was killed, leaving the survivors feeling so guilty they never hooked up. ThereвЂ™s an additional group of characters who come as a Green Destiny protection service. WeвЂ™ll later learn through flashback that there are complex reasons why their two paths are entwined, but honestly, by the second half of the film, the backstories are so byzantine youвЂ™ll mostly be watching for the fight scenes. Shu Lien intentionally forces her to train in view of the imprisoned Wei Fang, upon whom she rightly guesses Snow Vase is a tad sweet. Scenes of Bordizzo (an Australian national of Chinese-Italian descent, making her film debut) trying to pierce a swinging pendant with a cherry blossom stalk using only her sense of sound is, quite frankly, the type of thing I can watch all day.

Martial arts training sequences are pretty hard to screw up. She kinda-sorta knows that Snow Vase is also up to no good (she remembers Zhang YiyiвЂ™s character from the first movie) but recognizes her innate talents, and so agrees to become her master. She decides to cage him in the center of the manor, hoping to draw out those who sent him. In a weak version of the rooftop fight (same rooftops, only now with more noticeable digital effects) Shu Lien is able to retain Wei Fang. Only thereвЂ™s a twist: yes, thereвЂ™s a young fleet-of-foot woman, Snow Vase (Natasha Liu Bordizzo), springing from within the court, but thereвЂ™s also a fiery young man, Wei Fang (Harry Shun Jr), ordered to retrieve the sword for the tower-dwelling meanie Hades (Jason Scott Lee). And like last time a thief in the night comes to yank it away. There sits the sword, Green McGuffin вЂ“ I mean, Green Destiny вЂ“ just as before. Our returning hero Yu Shu Lien (Michelle Yeoh) is en route to Beijing after the death of the governor. ItвЂ™s been 18 years since Jen Yu leapt into the clouds at Mount Wudang, and various malevolent forces have been waiting to strike. This does not explain, however, why it is so terrible.

Indeed, it was a bigger deal in the west than in China, which may explain why its follow-up, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny, is shot in English. The film advanced to suburban multiplexes, shattering (and still holding) box office records for a foreign language film in the United States. With its nuanced characters, epic mythology, gorgeous cinematography, breathless action, iconic score (I can go on! ItвЂ™s terrific!) word of mouth was unstoppable. But at the 15-minute mark it cut loose with dreamlike martial arts action to rouse even the most jaded of kung fu VHS traders. From the director of Sense and Sensibility, this international co-production seemed like a film for the so-called prestige audience, in the vein of Ju Dou or Raise the Red Lantern. A ng LeeвЂ™s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was, at its release in late 2000, one of those rare moments in moviegoing when everyone seemed to agree.

Blade of the night destiny