Who payed the critics

Very well executed

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Blistering performances.

This is not your typical wuxia martial arts film. It is more of a romance drama with wuxia elements. Beautiful set pieces and design, exciting and artistic choreography, and genuine on-screen chemistry between leads Takeshi Kaneshiro and Zhang Ziyi all combine to create a tragic and heart-wrenching love story with an emotionally satisfying payoff. To that end this movie is a success and I enjoyed it. The problem however is unlike predecessors Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and Hero the script lacks that suspenseful plot to drive the story forward. And when you have no plot in a love story all you basically get is two people making out the whole time which gets really dull after a while. Think about it. Would Titanic still be considered a classic if you took out the part with the sinking ship and replaced it with more Jack and Rose scenes? Could have easily been a 7 or 8 if the second act wasn't so boring.

I wanted to see this movie for a while because I do enjoy the style of Wu Xia. I enjoyed Hero, Jade Warrior (although I don't think that can be counted because it's a Chinese/Finnish co-production) and I thought Crouching Tiger was okay. Impressed with Yimou Zhang's work I saw this and I actually think it's better than Hero.The plot is that in around 300BC China has this Robin Hood type group called The House Of Flying Daggers who steals from the rich to give to the poor among other criminal activities. A Soldier named Jin helps capture the former leader's blind daughter (Ziyi Zhang) but he falls in love with her and helps her to escape in order to find The House Of Flying Daggers. However it is an elaborate plot by the Chinese government to find the house and put an end to their criminal activities. However along the way things get more complicated then before.If there is any complaint with this movie it's that some of the twists and turns get very convoluted - I'm not going to reveal them but There is about 5 twists in 5 minutes at one point. It's almost like "Okay, enough!" I mean call it a nitpick but I think this movie could have been a little longer to spread these out.Aside from that I love almost everything else - I mean the cinematography isn't as good as Hero but I can see why it was nominated for the Oscar (I mean stuff like the final fight and the fight against the guards in the Bamboo forest - sorry if I screwed the term up is where it shines the best). The story is full of emotion and there is hardly a dumb moment in it. The acting is amazing, I have only seen Andy Lau in Infernal Affairs but he does a good job here and so does Ziyi Zhang and Takeshi Kaneshiro is very good as Jin. The editing in the fight scenes especially does get pretty choppy, I mean although I liked this more than Hero (yes, I said that) Hero does have the better fight scenes ONLY because they're better edited.I would say if you're a fan of this sort of movie - check it out. I mean out of all the Wu Xia films this is easily one of my favourites and definitely the best movie I've seen in a while. I'd say if you want to watch it for the beautiful looking Chinese country-side or the emotion put into the story then this is certainly one I'd recommend to you.

A Chinese wuxia film riding on the coattails of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, House of Flying Daggers deviates from the typical wuxia formula by being more of a love story rather than action-packed adventure. This ends up being both the strength and the weakness of the film.So what's the story. The 9th century China is in turmoil. Tang Dynasty is weakening and rebellious civil movements have begun to crop up all over the land. One of these is the eponymous House of Flying Daggers, and now the local police department believes that they have managed to locate one of the girls belonging to this organization. A plan is hatched to covertly release the girl and have her lead them to her leader. Yet problems arise as the amorous young police officer starts to fall for the fierce warrior woman.From that you can speculate much of the plot, and not in a bad way either. Sure, it's a bit predictable, but I'd rather see it as sticking to tried and true methods. Zhang Ziyi is an extremely fetching main female lead, and Takeshi Kaneshiro and Andy Lau are rather good as well as Jin and Liu, the two main police officers.Furthermore, it's an utterly gorgeous film. The settings are rich and detailed, the use of colour is phenomenal, the fight sequences are imaginative and enjoyable to look at and the music brings all together. One of the best looking films I've seen in a long time. The scenes in the bamboo forest with their thousands of shades of green are just... wow, I have no words.Yet I think that this film could have been much better with a change of focus. The setting about rebellious groups fighting against a dying dynasty is an interesting one and could have made for a really interesting adventure. Yet the main focus of the film is whether or not they really love each other? There's a missed opportunity here. Not that the love story isn't nice and heart-breaking and all that, but I was constantly questioning in my head, "Yeah, that's nice, but what about the rebellion? What about the House and its goals?" I can't exactly blame the director Yimou Zhang for trying to do something new with the genre, but perhaps a bit less adventure-oriented premise would have managed to keep my attention where it should have been.Still, it's a good film if you're looking for gorgeous visual, great action scenes and good acting performances. Recommended.

Overpowering visuals with kinetic sound editing highlight this wonderful to look at Film. But, the back Story is more spoken than presented and it lacks intrigue that was lost somewhere between the sappy and sentimental Love Triangle and the impressive Fight Scenes.Undeniably rich and rewarding Cinematography with more Colors than Crayola do save this maudlin Shakespearean wannabe. Focusing and lingering on the Beautiful outdoor landscapes and Hyper Stylized Wirework with a broad lens and awe is understandable. But what is incomprehensible is the amount of Screen Time and attention given to close up Faces and Bodies kissing and hugging, lying in a Field, looking up, looking at each other and it all looks rather boring.Especially when everything else is so vibrant and stunning. The Love Scenes and Dialog are so weak that they distract and stop the Movie. So there are things here that work wonderfully, the Art Design, the Fight Choreography, and the Ambiance in general. But what falters is the pale Political Story and the Love Story languishing with sometimes laughable lines. "I am like the Wind. I too would like to be like the Wind", or some such Poetic pretensions.