The Usual Suspects gathered for dinner tonight, and we went to see "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" at the Paramount afterwards. We ended up watching it on the IMAX screen, although the film got a bit grainy on such a big canvas. Anyway, I was quite suprised to be disappointed by the movie. It was ok, and the fight scene choreography was stunning, but the film did a poor job of characterization (particularly of the villainous Jade Fox) and none of the characters seemed to have earned their superhuman fighting technique. While the harnesses that enabled the stunts were skillfully erased, the flying leaps and "Singing in the Rain"-style wall running were so obviously the result of wires--most of the time the characters looked like they were being picked up, not jumping under their own steam--that in many cases the fight scenes actually detracted from my enjoyment of the movie. A shame, because the scenery, sets and characterization appeared to be as authentic as they were beautiful, and the actors involved are very fine and do a perfectly decent job of their work.

Ah well.

I'm back to Seattle tomorrow for the week... After three weeks of holidays (easy on the system but hard on the pocketbook) I'm just about ready to sink my teeth into some work again. I only hope there's enough to keep me busy!
posted by Tom at 2:36 AM | link |