An epic story of lost love, young love, a legendary sword and one last opportunity at redemption. All sounds quite promising (read it in your best voiceover man voice) for the sequel to the Academy Award winning Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Titled, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Sword of Destiny, the sequel has been over 15 years in the making. Netflix and the Weinstein company are behind the follow up, if you can call it that.
Unfortunately, Sword of Destiny, doesn't feel like a sequel in any shape or form. While the likes of Michelle Yeoh return, her part seems a bit more restrained or reserved this time round, with the likes of Donnie Yen picking up the slack. That aside however, the movie fails to recapture the spirit and heart of the original. Putting the sequel thing to one side, as a stand alone movie, Sword of Destiny certainly has it's moments.
While it's fair to say it's toned down the Wuxia (a genre of Chinese fiction or cinema featuring itinerant warriors of ancient China, often depicted as capable of superhuman feats of martial arts) so prevalent in the first movie there is no shortage of well choreographed set pieces. In fact, the fight sequences are peppered throughout from start to finish. In fact, there is so many, at times they seem like overkill. Granted, they are exciting to watch, if not suffering from one too many slow-mo moments.
It's what surrounds the fight sequences is the biggest problem here however. Meandering, unconnected scenes that just seemed to be dropped in for the sheer hell of it. As a result, the pacing is all over the place and the story suffers hugely. In fact, it's hard to make out what's going on at times.
The cast on the other hand are decent enough, with Yeoh and Yen being on particularly top form. While fight fans will enjoy the action, the movie itself soon becomes a chore unfortunately, not helped by average computer generated backdrops and cities.
It's the sequel nobody wanted, and it's not entirely bad. Provided you can blank out the boredom, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Sword of Destiny, is still worth a punch. Sorry...punt.
Unfortunately, Sword of Destiny, doesn't feel like a sequel in any shape or form. While the likes of Michelle Yeoh return, her part seems a bit more restrained or reserved this time round, with the likes of Donnie Yen picking up the slack. That aside however, the movie fails to recapture the spirit and heart of the original. Putting the sequel thing to one side, as a stand alone movie, Sword of Destiny certainly has it's moments.
While it's fair to say it's toned down the Wuxia (a genre of Chinese fiction or cinema featuring itinerant warriors of ancient China, often depicted as capable of superhuman feats of martial arts) so prevalent in the first movie there is no shortage of well choreographed set pieces. In fact, the fight sequences are peppered throughout from start to finish. In fact, there is so many, at times they seem like overkill. Granted, they are exciting to watch, if not suffering from one too many slow-mo moments.
It's what surrounds the fight sequences is the biggest problem here however. Meandering, unconnected scenes that just seemed to be dropped in for the sheer hell of it. As a result, the pacing is all over the place and the story suffers hugely. In fact, it's hard to make out what's going on at times.
The cast on the other hand are decent enough, with Yeoh and Yen being on particularly top form. While fight fans will enjoy the action, the movie itself soon becomes a chore unfortunately, not helped by average computer generated backdrops and cities.
It's the sequel nobody wanted, and it's not entirely bad. Provided you can blank out the boredom, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Sword of Destiny, is still worth a punch. Sorry...punt.
