Lack of good storyline.

Fantastic!

A Disappointing Continuation

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

Fans of the original "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" may find this follow-up to be less than inspiring, but I thought it was an adequate sequel extending the legend of the Green Sword of Destiny. I always manage to enjoy the choreography that goes into the martial arts fight scenes, even if the moves are humanly impossible. The wire work in this film may not have been as extensive as in the original but it was appropriately placed and didn't intrude on the story. The names of the four fighters who joined Silent Wolf/Meng Si Zhao (Donnie Yen) were pretty clever - Flying Blade, Thunder Fist, Silver Dart Shi and Turtle Ma, and I got a kick out of Turtle Ma's legendary status in his domain - 'this tavern'. I pretty much expected the negative reviews on this board for the movie because "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" by Ang Lee was one of those films that brought the martial arts movie to new levels when it came out in 2000. Since then we've been introduced to any number of high flying, colorful spectacles in the genre, all capitalizing on the latest in film technology and special effects. This one holds up well in that regard, keeping in mind that this one was produced by Netflix and not one of the major studios. So all in all a decent effort, and not really as bad as critics are prone to say.

Now, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny" had some mighty big shoes to fill out as a direct sequel to the fantastic "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" from 2000. And I will say that while it didn't really manage to step up to the plate and deliver on something just as grand as the 2000 movie, then it was still an enjoyable movie in its own rights.And it is perhaps a better way to look at "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny" as a stand-alone movie and try not to tie it to its predecessor.There was a lot of good action sequences throughout the movie, with good choreography and in-your-face kind of action. And that really worked out well in favor of the movie. It should also be said that the martial arts sequences in the movie were great, and they were as nicely executed on the screen as they were choreographed.The storyline in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny", however," turned out to be adequate. It wasn't as outstanding, memorable or original as it was in the first movie. Sure, it was entertaining enough, but it just seemed like the creative balloon was starting to deflate.However, the characters in the movie were one-dimensional, lacking both depth and personalities. It was hard to differentiate between the individual characters and tell where one character ended and the other began. They could essentially have been replaced with animated cardboard cut-outs.The ending of the movie was so predictable that you just saw it coming a mile away. Actually, it was so predictable that it only served as a blow to the credibility of the movie.One thing that the movie had working for it was the cast, as they had managed to get a good ensemble of acting talents to participate in this project. Donnie Yen and Michelle Yeoh were of course the big names to pull in the audience, and they fared well enough with their roles in the movie. It was a shame that Eugenia Yuan didn't have a bigger part or more on-screen time, because I would have loved to see more of her talent, plus her role was a very interesting one - a character not fully utilized in the movie. I was surprised to see Jason Scott Lee in a movie such as this, as I didn't think he was still an active actor, and much less expected him to show up in a movie such as this. If you forget that "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny" is directly tied as a sequel to the 2000 movie, then it actually serves as a decent enough movie in its own rights. But once you start holding it up in comparison to the predecessor, then "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny" pales instantly in comparison.

I went into "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny" (SoD) with a mix of expectations. I remember loving "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" (CTHD) went I saw it. How would this sequel match up? Actually, really well.To begin, let's remove some false assumptions. Many are upset about the film being in English, unlike the original which was in Mandarin. But there are reasons for this that extend far beyond "Americanizing." In CTHD, some of the stars were not native Mandarin speakers and their accents were heavy. This led to ridicule in China. I believe that the English language filming is an attempt to correct that. Better to have a good foreign language dub than actors who struggle on film, in my opinion.Furthermore, some have said that the fighting wasn't as good. One review I read said that the heroes had become super-heroes. I disagree. There is actually much less wuxia flying and more straight-forward combat. Is it stylized? Certainly. That's part of the genre. But it seems more grounded to me, than super-heroic. CTHD had some excellent fight scenes! But the star wasn't a trained martial artist and his moves looked clunky at times. Not so here. Donnie Yen is in top form and delivers a solid performance. It is especially satisfying to see him alongside Michelle Yeoh (the only carry over actor from CTHD). They fight and act well together.But, SoD is more than fighting. The narrative is key here. In fact, the story for SoD is, in some ways, superior than CTHD. The story and character arcs build on what went before, so we find out more about the previous characters. Furthermore, some of the new characters have deeper connections and more layered stories.The biggest difference between SoD and CTHD is the cinematography. At the risk of the oversimplification, CTHD seemed more artsy. That doesn't means SoD looks bad. It's just a different, more modern style. There are some breathtaking landscape shots that give the story scope! The film could also have been a little longer. There are some minor characters that I wish we would have been able to see more of before the end.The direction, acting, fighting, and soundtrack all work well together, giving us a great film. For me, "Sword of Destiny" is an excellent follow up to the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Your humble reviewer believes that the destiny of certain very special sequels is not merely to entertain, not merely to make money, but to strike a chord within the viewer that makes you realize how much you enjoyed the original and want to see it again.So it was that at the halfway point of this movie I decided to go to the Amazon site and order the original CTHD. Only with the perspective of this lop-sided followup can the beauty, the genius, of the original be appreciated.That said, a lot of top talent try very hard to salvage this title but aside from some amazing fight scenes -- scenes which by themselves are almost worth the price of the ticket -- it just keeps letting you down.Yen's performance here made me appreciate his restraint in the 3 Ip Man movies even more. And watching the increasingly heavy Jason Scott Lee reminded me that when he first debuted on the scene, he played a very svelte Bruce Lee. And any film with Michelle Yeoh is always worth a look.Have a glance here, but cherish the original.