Sword of Destiny is the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon sequel fans have been highly anticipating, but did it live up to its potential?
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon grossed more than $213 million worldwide on a $17 million budget. It helped launch the career of Ang Lee, and sits with a nearly unreachable 97% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It proved that Chinese wuxia could find greatness in the Western world of filmmaking, collecting accolade upon accolade as a result. It is a classic in the very essence of the word.
It is no wonder, then, that Sword of Destiny does not live up to its predecessor and, perhaps, knew from the start that it never could.
Strengths
As a whole, Sword of Destiny does feel like it belongs to the original. Michelle Yeoh is the only returning actor, and yet each new character feels as though they’ve lived in this world for years. Each actor brings strength, heart, and honesty to the role, with the younger generation carrying just as much of the movie on their shoulders as their elders.
Yeoh shines brightly, as she always does, though I would never balk at more scenes focusing on Shu Lien, as the actress has proven adept at both physical stunts and emotional exchanges. Her chemistry with Donnie Yen is not as pronounced as it was with Chow Yun-fat, but they had a tall order to fill, and this relationship was less about maintaining the willpower to stay apart than it was about forgiving one for making decisions on behalf of the other.
Harry Shum, Jr. is an interesting addition to the cast given his famed role on Glee and current stint on Shadowhunters, and though Wei Fang stays in a cage for much of his time on screen, Shum’s emotional depth is apparent, and his ability to keep up with Yen is admirable. Natasha Liu Bordizzo as Snow Vase bring fire and grace to the role, the former of which is greatly contrasted with Shu Lien’s cool exterior.
Jason Scott Lee makes Hades Dai a truly formidable opponent, both in skill and stature, and this is balanced by Silent Wolf’s traveling partners, all four of whom offer a spark of something fun amidst the dark and serious tones the other characters bring to the table. It is a light touch I wish had been carried throughout the film.
The heart of the story is still here, and the physical humor balances the silent conversations held between glances, though the film would have done well to add more of both to make it feel truly well-rounded. In fact, this is my biggest complaint of the film: I want more. I want more fights, more confessions, more story, and more time with these characters.
Weaknesses
Sword of Destiny somehow manages to feel as big as the first film and yet more empty because of it. Where Crouching Tiger brought us a spiraling, complex, layered story, Destiny feels oddly linear. At only 96 minutes long, the film felt as though it was missing a vital piece of the puzzle that it could’ve used to deepen the story.
As with any wuxia film, the story is heightened and enhanced by the fight scenes. It is so intrinsically part of character growth, that when it is not used to its fullest potential, the movie can fall a bit flat because of it. The fight scenes in Destiny were incredible, which is in no doubt thanks to Yuen Woo-Ping, who was the action choreographer on the first film. The movie jumps into the action right away, and there are several incredible confrontations that follow, including the clever battle between Wei Fang, Iron Claw, and Silent Wolf on the frozen lake.
However, these action sequences also fall short compared to the original. I hate to keep referencing Crouching Tiger because I know it is an unfair comparison given that film’s acclaim, which has continued to grow over the years, but when you make a sequel to a movie of such high caliber, it’s hard not to measure one against the other. In particular, the epic final battle was quite limited, in both time and space, making the rising action feel anticlimactic when the swords were finally lowered.
Selfishly, I was hoping there would be another epic two-person battle like the one between Shu Lien and Jiao Long from the original. The choreography during their fight (seen below), was a marvel, not only cinematically, but also on a technical level. The fights against Hades Dai and the Blind Enchantress were lackluster in comparison.
Verdict
Sword of Destiny is not a bad movie. In fact, it is a good movie that is in the unfortunate situation of having a critically-acclaimed film and 16 years of waiting to live up to. The story is emotional, the fights are superb, and yet, in the end, it just does not seem like enough.
For the die hard fans, I would pass on this Netflix Original Film, as I truly don’t think you’ll ever come to love it like the first. For those who have an appreciation for Crouching Tiger and what it brought to the world of filmmaking, this installation is a good way to revisit the world, as long as you can separate this chapter from the one that came before.
Unsurprisingly, the book offers a wider lens with which to view this story, despite it simply being a novelization of the screenplay. The backstory feels deeper, and there are some details that have been changed, much to the benefit of the book.
The fact the movie was shot in English was meant to be a departure from the original, also gaining it the title of the first English language wuxia, but this somehow makes it feel more like a betrayal. Ang Lee gave his blessing for the making of this film, and the importance of Michelle Yeoh’s return should not be overlooked, but what do you do when your best is just not quite good enough?
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