Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 2: Sword of Destiny

[GeneChing]

John Fusco on CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON: SWORD OF DESTINY by me.

[GeneChing]

...a HuffPost blog.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Origins
02/23/2016 01:19 pm ET | Updated 1 day ago

John Fusco
Writer-producer of Young Guns, Thunderheart, Hidalgo, The Forbidden Kingdom, and creator of Original Netflix Series Marco Polo



As both a filmmaker and martial artist, there are few modern movies that I regard as highly as Ang Lee's masterful Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. So when Harvey Weinstein first proposed the idea of revisiting the franchise, I said that I had no interest in writing a straight-up sequel to such a beloved and groundbreaking classic. As it turned out, neither did Harvey.

What Harvey wished to explore -- and what I soon found to be a captivating idea -- was to return to the obscure literary source that inspired the 2000 film: The work of Chinese writer Wang Dulu and his Crane-Iron pentalogy. Little-known outside of China, and mostly forgotten in its homeland, the Crane-Iron stories are a five-part fantasy series that chronicle four generations of martial heroes.

With titles such as Precious Sword, Golden Hairpin (Book Two) and Sword Force, Pearl Shine (Book three), the fourth book, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, was the basis for the Ang Lee film, although Lee also drew key elements from the first three. The fifth and final book, Iron Knight, Silver Vase had never been adapted and stood as a forgotten final chapter to a pentalogy that introduced a new generation of star-crossed lovers and Wuxia heroes.

Although few know the name Wang Dulu, he well deserves to be remembered as a writer who perfected the Wuxia genre, paving the way for the fantasy literature that would inspire martial arts cinema as we know it. The opportunity to revisit Wang's epic story-world and create more of a stand-alone treatment of the final book rather than a sequel to the classic film was intriguing -- not just to Harvey and myself, but to Master Yuen Woo-Ping.

Master Yuen, the legendary fight choreographer and director of many of the classic Hong Kong films that inspired Ang Lee to create Crouching Tiger, viewed it as an opportunity to direct his own Crane-Iron tale. While Lee's film has been deservedly hailed as an artistic drama with kung fu -- "Sense and Sensibility with martial arts" some have called it -- Master Yuen embraced the opportunity to adapt the final Crane-Iron book in the pure, Wuxia action style he is known for.

With over 70 film credits, Yuen Woo-Ping began as a fight choreographer in the early '70s and directed his first actioners in '78, helming two movies with the young Jackie Chan: Snake in the Eagle's Shadow and Drunken Master. He would go on to direct and influence the careers of such action stars as Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao, Jet Li, and Michelle Yeoh. This venerated lineage was not lost on the Wachowski's who sought out Yuen in 1999 for The Matrix, or on Quentin Tarantino who would enlist the master's choreography for his Kill Bill films.

As a director, Yuen Woo-Ping knows the Wuxia vernacular like few others. He essentially created the dance-like, gravity-defying, fighting-in-tree-tops style that has become synonymous with Crouching Tiger. Yet it's a traditional language that found its form in the written works of modern Wuxia writers like Jin Yong, Liang Yusheng, and Wang Dulu.

For me, Sword of Destiny has been a journey back to the source. Not just to the unsung literary roots of martial arts cinema, but into the workshop of one of the genre's pioneers, an iconic action directer who is comfortably at home honoring and celebrating those roots, even as he continually ups his game. I think the late Wang Dulu would have been pleased to see his final Crane-Iron story, the lost chapter, come to life in the hands of a director who truly lives and breathes the world of pure Wuxia.

Follow John Fusco on Twitter: www.twitter.com/JohnFusco12

[GeneChing]

Why so many theater chains are refusing to screen Netflix's 'Crouching Tiger' sequel


Netflix
"Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny" will be available for streaming on Netflix on Friday, when it hits theaters. (Rico Torres / Netflix)

Yvonne Villarreal

Netflix's latest movie release, “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny,” will hit theaters Friday, but it won't pack much of a punch at the U.S. box office.

That's because the follow-up to the Oscar-winning martial arts epic will only play in about a dozen IMAX theaters around the country — a far cry from the original film, which was released in more than 2,000 theaters and became the most successful foreign language film.

The nation's largest theater chains have balked at Netflix's plans to release the movie in the home on the same day it appears in cinemas.

Netflix views so-called day-and-date releases as the wave of the future, giving consumers what they want when they want it across platforms. But theater owners say collapsing traditional theatrical release windows undermines their business. A similar dispute erupted last year when Netflix announced simultaneous release plans for the critically acclaimed “Beasts of No Nation,” which opened in October and was deemed a box office flop.

The conflict has renewed long-standing tensions in Hollywood over when movies are released into the home. It also underscores the challenges Netflix confronts as it seeks to change the conventions of the film industry.

“It's going to be very, very difficult for Netflix to get the major theater chains to carry its movies,” said FBR Capital Markets analyst Barton Crockett. “It's really not going to make much money from playing these movies in movie theaters in the United States.”

Netflix's rising Hollywood profile was on display recently at the recent Sundance Film Festival in Utah. The Los Gatos, Calif., company, along with rival Amazon.com, made a splash by paying more than $30 million to buy movie titles at the festival. Amazon also recently bought the rights to Woody Allen's next film. The size of such deals and the star power associated with the movies put the industry on notice that streaming companies are serious about their film aspirations.

Original movies can bring cachet and prestige to their services, especially if they win awards, and provide another way to attract subscribers.

“It was kind of a no-brainer that the streaming services would try to exploit their movie ambitions this way,” said Michael Nathanson, a media analyst with Moffett Nathanson Research. “It all goes to branding. The more exclusivity you can offer, it helps build brand support.”

Netflix, which changed how consumers watch television, offers something powerful to filmmakers: a vast global audience with some 75 million subscribers. But most filmmakers still want their movies to be seen on the big screen, and Netflix has had strained relations with the nation's largest theater chains. They bristle at the idea that the streaming giant is giving consumers more choices to watch movies.

“Netflix's commitment to consumer choice only extends as far as it benefits Netflix,” said Patrick Corcoran, spokesman for the National Assn. of Theatre Owners.

Representatives of Netflix declined to comment.

Netflix executives have argued that making movies available in the home and theaters at the same time is simply a matter of giving consumers what they want in an on-demand world.

“When people hear about things in the Internet world, they expect to be able to have access to it right then,” Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos told The Times when it announced its movie ambitions in 2014.

Theater owners, however, have been fiercely protective of the traditional theatrical release window — the time between when a movie premieres in cinemas and when it is available for home viewing on DVD or video on demand. They argue that dismantling the current window (typically about 90 days) gives consumers less incentive to trek to the multiplex, thereby undermining their business.

In 2011, several major chains vowed not to screen the Ben Stiller-Eddie Murphy comedy “Tower Heist” after Universal Pictures planned to make the movie available at a premium price to consumers just three weeks after its launch in theaters.

Netflix found itself the target of the exhibition industry's wrath in 2014 when it announced plans for a day-and-date release of the sequel to ‘Crouching Tiger' in select Imax theaters.

“We will not participate in an experiment where you can see the same product on screens varying from three stories tall to 3 [inches] wide on a smart phone,” said a statement from Regal, the nation's largest theater chain. “We believe the choice for enjoying a magnificent movie is clear.”

Other chains also refused to screen the film.

Locally, the only cinema showing the movie is an AMC multiplex in the San Gabriel Valley, which has a large Chinese community.

Corcoran said cinema owners had the right to refuse to screen movies released simultaneously in the home.

“They're dedicating their screen time, and they want to maximize the audience they can get, and if a company is releasing a movie in which there isn't a commitment to supporting the theater, theater owners are going to take that into account,” he said.

“Sword of Destiny's” modest theatrical rollout stands in contrast to the original film in 2000 and directed by Ang Lee. “Crouching Tiger” drew record crowds in Los Angeles and New York and became an indie sensation, grossing more than $128 million domestically.

Ticket sales for the sequel, which has Michelle Yeoh and Donnie Yen reprising their roles, are expected to be well below that level.

But Sarandos contends that global streaming views and credibility for its original content are more important to its bottom line than ticket sales. He also expects the movie to do well globally.

Imax is releasing the film in 287 theaters in China, where the film opened last week with a modest $21 million over the weekend, according to industry consulting firm Artisan Gateway.

“It's a fantastic piece of Chinese storytelling that will travel around the world in a way that Chinese movies don't,” Sarandos told The Times last month. “It will be a global sensation the way China would like to see themselves in the media landscape.”

Netflix is not alone in its desire to be a player in the film business. Amazon has also been aggressively trying to broaden its programming beyond television. But Amazon is taking a different approach to distribution by making films available on the Amazon Prime streaming platform only after they're released in theaters.

The Seattle e-commerce giant, known in the TV world for such series as “Transparent” and “Mozart in the Jungle,” recently partnered with Roadside Attractions to release Spike Lee's “Chi-Raq” exclusively in 305 theaters in December before putting it up on its streaming service less than a month later.

At Sundance, Amazon acquired six film titles, including “Manchester by the Sea,” a family drama starring Casey Affleck that it purchased for $10 million — the second-largest deal at this year's indie movie festival. And Amazon last week acquired the North American rights to Woody Allen's upcoming but as-yet-untitled feature.

“I think it's good for customers and good for filmmakers to have the movies get into theaters and have a robust theatrical run,” Amazon Studios' chief Roy Price told the Times. “Obviously, [the big screen] is the best way to see a movie.... I think preserving the theatrical experience and the theatrical window makes sense for everybody and we support that — it's an important part of our approach.”

On a cursory search, I only see it playing at one nearby house, AMC Cupertino Square 16 - it's in IMAX 3D there. Coincidentally, The Mermaid is also playing there, with half the showings in 3D.

[GeneChing]

Not only this, but updates on DareDevil and Iron Fist.

[GeneChing]

She's unknown to me until now, but she made Vogue.

Meet Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Hollywood’s Next Action Supernova
FEBRUARY 25, 2016 3:22 PM
by LAURA REGENSDORF


Photo: Courtesy of Natasha Liu Bordizzo / @natashaliubordizzo

When Natasha Liu Bordizzo makes her wide-screen debut on Friday in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny, premiering in IMAX theaters and on Netflix, she will have a much smaller screen to thank. “My agent in Sydney, she found me on Instagram,” the Australian beauty explained by phone this week from Los Angeles, where she is just setting down roots. If Liu Bordizzo’s career beginnings have a fairy-tale ring, so does the story of her first-ever audition. After reading for a supporting role in the follow-up to the 2000 film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, she got a surprise call the next day announcing that she’d landed the lead. “I flew to New Zealand [to the set] a week later, I dropped out of university, and here I am,” she said, still a bit incredulous two years later.

With her finely modeled features, calligraphy-stroke eyebrows, and dimpled chin, Liu Bordizzo cuts a striking figure as Snow Vase, the free-spirited ingenue who trains under Yu Shu Lien (played by the regal Michelle Yeoh, reprising her role). Though certain aspects of the sequel are quite a departure from Ang Lee’s Oscar-winning original—the unconventional distribution; a new director (the respected martial arts choreographer Woo-Ping Yuen; and dialogue in English, not Mandarin—the fight scenes still reveal an impressive technical mastery. And Liu Bordizzo accepted the challenge: Already a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, she underwent intensive training in Wudang sword-fighting. Here, the 21-year-old talks about the rigors of the two martial arts disciplines, what saves her skin on long-haul flights, and why breakfast rules the day.

You’re part Chinese and part Italian—did you grow up with any traditional Chinese notions of beauty?
It’s like that stereotype that Asians will carry umbrellas—now I’m one of them because it’s so necessary, especially in Sydney. The best way to avoid sun aging is just prevention. CosMedix has a great hydrating sun mist—that’s my go-to.

How did you first get interested in martial arts?
When I was about 9 or 10, my parents told me I’d either have to start martial arts or dance. I was always a tomboy, so of course I was like, “Martial arts, definitely. I’m not a ballerina—come on!” And I stuck with it. Through my teenage years it really became an outlet for me to let out any frustration. I think it transfers into your life as well: You just become more disciplined and more focused.


Photo: Courtesy of Natasha Liu Bordizzo / @natashaliubordizzo

Both the original Crouching Tiger and the sequel center on master-student relationships. Who did you study with to learn Wudang sword-fighting, and what was that process like?
It was kind of terrifying because Master [Woo-Ping] Yuen is, like, legendary. He choreographed Kill Bill, the first Crouching Tiger, [and] The Matrix. I had Tae Kwon Do, but that was just so different from Wudang that it was like starting from day one again with the best choreographer in the world. It was pretty intense. I was in the dojang from about 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., five days a week. We definitely got there in the end.

What part of your body was most affected by Wudang?
Funnily enough, it was probably my arms. Everything else hurt, of course, but twirling that sword and holding it out—it’s not something you usually ever do. I had one scene with Harry Shum, Jr. where we don’t use weapons. It’s the only scene in the movie that’s just us—body on body, fist on fist—and that was really hard because he’s a professional dancer. He’s like a stone! [laughs] I would hit him, and then my hand would be, like, broken, so that was definitely the most challenging fight in the movie.

You’re no stranger to long-haul flying. Do you have an in-flight skin-care routine?
Now I do! I use this amazing black rose mask by Sisley. I just slather that on. And there’s a hydrating mist from CosMedix that’s great as well. I try to sleep on the plane, but I remember to wake up and quickly cleanse and apply moisturizer because the plane definitely gets to your skin.

Healthy living seems to be the norm in Australia, starting with a solid brekkie. Are you much of a breakfast person?
Oh, my God, yes! It’s my favorite meal of the day. Right now I’m eating Farmer Jo [muesli] from Sydney, and then I just add different things every morning to keep it interesting, like cinnamon, blueberries, bananas, [and] coconut milk. [In Los Angeles] I love Blu Jam and Earthbar—the smoothies there. It’s so easy to be healthy in L.A.!


Photo: Courtesy of Natasha Liu Bordizzo / @natashaliubordizzo

And she'll make our sword hotties page for sure. I just found this great shot below.

Michelle Yeoh Reprises Her Role in 'Crouching Tiger' Sequel
December 16, 2015 Associated Press


Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh, second left, and Australian actress Natasha Liu Bordizzo, center, react as they act on stage during a press conference for the movie "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny" in Beijing, China, Dec. 15, 2015.

BEIJING, CHINA —
Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh said Tuesday that she has been waiting many years to reprise her role in “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” in an upcoming sequel to the supernatural martial arts movie.

“Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny,” centers around the protection of a legendary sword.

It also stars Donnie Yen of the “Ip Man” martial arts films and “The Monkey King” as “Silent Wolf,” Harry Shum Jr., who played Mike Chang in the TV series “Glee,” and Jason Scott Lee.

“We've been waiting for this film for many, many years,” Yeoh said at an event in Beijing marking the new movie, which will be released on Feb. 8 in theaters in China and on Feb. 26 in the U.S. on Netflix and in selected theaters.

In her first movie appearance, Australian actress Natasha Liu Bordizzo plays Yeoh's apprentice. Liu Bordizzo, also at the event in Beijing, said she thought the sequel had the potential to replicate the 2000 movie's success.

“I think the first story is known so much for a beautiful story and not just the martial arts and I think our film definitely also has that element - we have a beautiful story as well as so many layers,” she said.

The original was filmed in Mandarin. The sequel is in English and will be dubbed into Mandarin for its release in China.

[GeneChing]

This film is just like KFP3. It's all about the China box office - Hollywood, not so much.

‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword Of Destiny’ Tops $32M In China As Netflix Begins International Rollout
by Nancy Tartaglione
February 26, 2016 7:16am


Netflix

Sixteen years after Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon became a worldwide phenomenon, the sequel was unsheathed last Friday in China. After a week of play in a very competitive market, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword Of Destiny has grossed $32M. That’s more than double the Middle Kingdom lifetime of the previous film and sets up the international rollout as Netflix makes it available today in the U.S. and elsewhere abroad.

Sword Of Destiny is a co-production between The Weinstein Co, Netflix and China Film Group and gives the movie local Chinese status meaning TWC and Netflix recoup a higher percentage of the box office than if this had gone in under the quota system. The PROC release of the Yuen Woo-ping-helmed sort-of-sequel was handled by The Weinstein Co, Netflix and local partners Pegasus and CFG. Harvey Weinstein has called it “a summation of my lifelong passion for Chinese culture in general and wuxia cinema in specific.” He details his experience making the film here.



The China release came near the tail end of the Lunar New Year holiday period, opening with about $10M last Friday and landing No. 2 behind now all-time box office champ The Mermaid ($450M+). Sword Of Destiny held well during the past week even as folks returned to work and school. It’s stayed in the Top 3 throughout the frame which saw The Mermaid maintain the bulk of the territory’s screens during its third week. On Thursday, for example, there were a reported 63K showings of The Mermaid versus 32K of Sword Of Destiny which is running ahead of New Year hit The Man From Macau 3. That film incidentally stars Chow Yun-fat whose character died in the first Crouching Tiger.



Michelle Yeoh returns from the 2000 wuxia film alongside Hong Kong action star Donnie Yen (who’s next up in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and xXx), Harry Shum Jr and Jason Scott Lee. Talent came out to promote the film in the PROC well ahead of the release.

Yeoh reprises her role as Yu Shu-Lien, the renowned and lovelorn warrior who must protect the legendary Green Destiny sword against evil warlord Hades (Lee). Yen plays Silent Wolf, Shu-Lien’s former fiancé, who she thought had been killed by Hades years earlier.

Netflix’s global rollout began today in over 190 countries. This was born of a deal between the streaming giant and The Weinstein Co that was hatched in the fall of 2014. Sword Of Destiny is also hitting about a dozen IMAX screens today in North America.

There's that pic of Natasha again...

[PalmStriker]

Can't wait to watch this movie on Netflix this weekend ! Excellentia !

[-N-]

I'm looking forward to watching this on Netflix this Friday. That'll be my reward for surviving this week.

Watching it right now.

Looks and sounds like a made for tv movie. And the English dialogue doesn't help.

[GeneChing]

CTHD2 reminded me of the film 2010 (1984 ironically, starring John Lithgow, Helen Mirren and Roy Scheider) - It wasn't a bad film if you could overlook the original, but the original was such a game changer that it's impossible to overlook. In both cases, the second installment is completely overshadowed and dwarfed by the original.

On the plus side: lots of sword fights. Michelle & Donnie squeezed a little acting in. Harry and newcomer Natasha were good. It had some cinematic panoramic moments that might have been good on the big screen. But a pretty standard Kung fu flick overall. Yuen Woo Ping's fights are so physics-defying wire work that it has become his signature style, and I didn't feel he brought anything that fresh to his work

It has already made decent box in PRC. Again, it's about all about China, something I've been watching closely for years now and am just too dumb to figure out how to cash in on the trending shift. The ironic thing is that the original never played in PRC, which is probably why 2 is doing well there. Chinese speakers rejected the original because everyone's accent was off, which I've likened to doing Shakespeare with a Texan drawl. When Netflix said they'd release it simultaneous to the theatrical premiere, many U.S. theater chains boycotted. But it's just as well because I doubt it could stand up to Deadpool right now. There's a timely big-picture commentary I might publish about this, but I'll probably refrain beyond a mention in my print column.

[GeneChing]

...she was one of the best parts of CTHD2 for sure... a breakout martial ingénue.

Natasha Liu Bordizzo’s Career Takes Flight With ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny’
Friday, February 26th, 2016 at 8:55am PST - by Scott Huver



Natasha Liu Bordizzo’s story may end up being the envy of fledgling actors everywhere.

With a background in martial arts but virtually no experience in entertainment, the 19-year-old Australian college student responded to an open casting call for “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny” in her native Sydney, bringing to a halt the worldwide search conducted by the film’s director Yuen Woo-ping, the wuxia wireworks maestro for Ang Lee’s 2000 original.

Bordizzo was instantly cast as Snow Vase, a new young character trying to understand her place in the epic world.

Mere days after moving to Hollywood to see if her good fortune will continue, the now 21-year-old Bordizzo joined Spinoff Online in the Beverly Hills offices of Netflix, which debuts the film today, to talk about her extraordinary career path.

Spinoff Online: So, instant movie star …

Natasha Liu Bordizzo: Uh, no – not yet! [Laughs]

This had to feel like a pretty crazy experience for you, to just kind of step in and say. “Hey, how about me?” And they say, “Sure!”

Yeah, that was my first audition. I mean, I don’t even know how to say that to actors’ faces. I’m like, “Yeah, ‘Crouching Tiger’ was my first audition. You hate me now, don’t you?” Especially now that I’m auditioning and doing pilot season, I’m like, “Holy crap! That was insane!” But that was my first audition. Yeah.



Tell me, what was the thing that pushed you to do something like that? To say “I’m going to go audition for this thing.”

To be honest, I was pushed. I was just studying, and I was in university in Sydney, which is where I’m from. Then, my agent – my now-agent – she is a boutique model/actor agent in Sydney, and she scouted me for modeling. And I was like, “I’m very busy, I’m studying, I don’t think I have time for that.” And I just didn’t have much interest in it.

Then she said, “OK, well, how about acting?” And she put me forward for this audition, and I went out of curiosity because I’ve never liked drama very much. I have stage fright and I’m a little bit of an introvert. I just don’t like those situations in high school where it’s drama class and everyone’s just trying to be really loud and everything. So I found this strange thing about film is that it’s so intimate and it’s not about being big or dramatic, it’s just an imitation of life. So I just fell into it because it just felt really right.

How nervous were you on that first day of shooting?

Pretty nervous. But you know what helped, though? My first week of shooting was actually action scenes with no dialogue. So I wasn’t as nervous as I would have been if it was a dialogue scene. So I think I was just trying to go through the motions and not get killed by Harry in that scene. We filmed that nighttime scene where we’re trying to steal the sword, was our first week filming.



Give me a little bit of your history with martial arts. How early on did you take an interest in it and show some real skill for it?

I started taekwondo when I was 9 or 10. My parents basically said to me, “You can do martial arts or you can do dance – choose.” And I was always a tomboy, so I said of course I’d rather do martial arts. I was like, “Please, I’m not doing ballet.”

There was a dojo near my house, and I started going and I just found that it was like an outlet in my teenage years, just maybe to vent frustration. It was a space where there was a lot of respect of discipline, and it was just really formative for me as a teenager to have that space away from high school and everything that is growing up to where you’re just really treated with respect and you treat others with respect.

It was more like that affected my life that I loved as well. I think first and foremost, I’m still an actor, though. If martial arts adds to the story, I’m very happy to take that on board as well.

How much did your real discipline in martial arts come into play? Or did you have to say, “Oh, you want movie martial arts.”

Well, I think with nontraditional Wushu, just general action, like a general TV show, it’s a lot more faking it because you can just do something that looks flashy but it’s not actually. But with our movie, we had to really do most of the movements. It’s really hard to fake it. There’s a certain grace to Wushu that it’s almost between dance and martial arts. So we really did do most of what is in the movie. I’d say I did, like, 80 percent of my stunts. So it was a crash course.

And very little of that helps you when you’re on a wire rig and spinning around, as Harry Shum was just telling me. All his dance discipline really didn’t –

No, nothing helps you.

It doesn’t help you with gravity.

Nothing helps you with gravity, apart from practice. The wirework, it looks easy, it looks like you’re feather-light, and you’re just flying around. It’s not. It’s, like, you have to tense your entire body to just stay straight. For some reason, you always want to be doing this. So the wirework is very challenging, actually. I have double the amount of respect for watching the action sequences that I have of actors on wires, because now I realize how hard it is.

What’s the craziest situation you found yourself in while dangling from cables?

Oh, my God. There was one scene at the pagoda, which is where I fight the villain Hades Dai. I had to be doing backflips and every other thing in front of a crowd of like 100 soldier extras. And there was just so much … Jason Scott Lee, who plays Hades Dai, he’s terrifying in character. He runs at you like a full muscle train and does not stop. The fear was real. There was no acting in that scene. So that was a pretty crazy whole sequence there.

Of all the other physical things that you had to get familiar with to do the role, what did you take to right away – like, “Hey, I’m good at this?” And what was the most tricky to master?

I think, predictably, I was better at the scene that doesn’t involve weapons, which is the one with Harry where we’re at night just kind of wrestling and punching. Just fighting. But I think possibly, I’m trying to think of the exact scene that I struggled the most with. Weapons in general was new to me.

So I think honing my skills to be to the point of approval of Master Yuen [Woo-ping], who’s a legend, that was a daily task for me. Yeah. His approval is not easy. If he does this to you [flashes a low-key “OK” gesture], you know that you’ve done amazingly well. That’s all he’ll give you.



Tell me about, physicality aside, what intrigued you about the character? What did you find yourself loving about walking around in her shoes?

When I first read the script, I was really amazed at the fact that it’s this young, impulsive female warrior who kind of is pivotal to a lot of the story. I think that she comes from a lonely kind of upbringing, because she was raised very much like a warrior, a student, instead of a daughter. She feels kind of misplaced a lot of the time.

She’s kind of guarded, but she’s seeking love and guidance, which is kind of what she gets from Yu Shu Lien, Michelle Yeoh’s character. I just love there’s so many layers involved. She’s secretive. She’s got this past. She’s sneaky, but she wants guidance, but she’s guarded, but she’s fiery and temperamental. She’s got flaws and she’s a real person.

Where did the original movie come into your life? Was it something from childhood or did you recently discover it?

No, I was 5, I think, when the original came out, and I never saw it. I think I watched bits of it when my parents were watching it in the living room maybe, sometimes. But I watched it for the first time as preparation for this movie. Ever since then, I’ve dived a lot more into the Chinese side of my culture and just Wushu and Hong Kong cinema in general.

I think that because my generation’s a little bit cut off from that film in the sense, where we’re just too young to have seen it when it came out and was a big thing, I think that makes us see this movie more as a standalone because of that. I think my friends haven’t really seen the first one either. We just kind of missed it because of that gap. They’re excited about this as a new, fresh project.

How’s university looking now? You going to go back?

That’s long gone. I quit; I just dropped out. There’s a period where I was trying to do both for a few months, and it just didn’t work. You have to kind of do a hundred or nothing with acting. Yeah, maybe later in life, but I’m very focused.

Are you hooked? Do you feel like “This is my thing I should have been doing all along”?

Definitely. Yeah, it was weird. I never thought … you know, it’s one of those things. Fate, I don’t know. Is that too strong a word? Everything that I enjoyed is kind of melded into acting. I love photography, I love writing, I love film as well. But I never thought I’d actually be in the films. But yeah, I’m very passionate.

[-N-]

http://variety.com/2016/film/reviews...ew-1201717291/

The magic of Ang Lee's rapturous 2000 Oscar winner is nowhere to be found in this cynical cash grab of a sequel.

What a lousy year for long-delayed sequels: It may not be a stink bomb of “Zoolander 2” proportions, but in many ways “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny” feels like an even more cynical cash grab. Trading on the pedigree of Ang Lee’s 2000 Oscar winner but capturing none of its soulful poetry, this martial-arts mediocrity has airborne warriors aplenty but remains a dispiritingly leaden affair with its mechanical storytelling, purely functional action sequences and clunky English-language performances. The result has grossed a healthy $32 million in China so far and began its Stateside streaming release on Friday (while opening on about a dozen Imax screens), but regardless of how it fares, exec producer Harvey Weinstein’s latest dubious non-contribution to Asian cinema will add some quick coin but no luster to Netflix’s library.

The singular magic that made Lee’s film such a boundary-breaking triumph — it won four Oscars and is still the highest-grossing foreign-language film in North America — is nowhere to be found in a production that seems predicated entirely on cost-effectiveness and compromise. Although “Sword of Destiny” has similar roots in the Chinese novelist Wang Dulu’s “Iron Crane” pentalogy and features a return appearance by Michelle Yeoh as the wise and formidable fighter Yu Shu Lien, it’s a work that feels dispiritingly cut off from its predecessor; not even the ascension to the director’s chair of Yuen Wo-ping (the veteran action choreographer behind much of the original film’s kung fu wizardry) can ensure much in the way of visual or dramatic continuity. And thanks to the filmmakers’ decision to shoot in English (with dubbed versions playing in Chinese territories) and to shoot primarily in New Zealand, with Grant Major (“The Lord of the Rings”) enlisted as production designer, the result is a sequel often feels less Middle Kingdom than Middle-earth. [...]

Spot on. I was wondering why the movie had such a Lord of the Rings feel too.

[Jimbo]

I had little interest in seeing this before, and now I have even less. The fact that it's a movie set in old China but filmed in English(!) is a big factor. Who cares if the Mandarin accents were "wrong" in the original? It's still more accurate than having them speaking English.

[GeneChing]

Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon II: The Green Destiny, which has grossed a healthy $36.8 million in the Chinese market, despite withering local reviews.

I had little interest in seeing this before, and now I have even less. The fact that it's a movie set in old China but filmed in English(!) is a big factor. Who cares if the Mandarin accents were "wrong" in the original? It's still more accurate than having them speaking English.

Actually, it's all about the accent. CTHD was very poorly received because of the accents and many critics at the time said it was a manipulative move on behalf of Ang Lee. CTHD wasn't a Kung Fu movie made for the Taiwanese/Asian market at all. The accents betray that. It was always Hollywood bound. Now, over a decade and a half later, the tables have turned. Let's make a Kung Fu movie for China in English. It's not for the U.S. theatrical market at all. It didn't even chart on Box Office Mojo for Domestic, only for China and Hong Kong. In my area, the SF Bay Area, which is a fat market for 'Asian' films, I can only find it playing in one IMAX house (there may be more, but I'm not going to search that aggressively as the point is made). It was really all about Netflix here.

All that being said, it's still worth a view on Netflix if you have it, mostly for Natasha. And of course, more grist for the mill here.

[-N-]

The fact that it's a movie set in old China but filmed in English(!) is a big factor. Who cares if the Mandarin accents were "wrong" in the original? It's still more accurate than having them speaking English.

Not just the accuracy, but without the Chinese language idioms, the movie looked and sounded like a medieval sword movie with people that randomly happened to look Asian pretending to be Caucasian.

Way too much dialogue and exposition too. It's an art to tell a story with few words.

[-N-]

All that being said, it's still worth a view on Netflix if you have it, mostly for Natasha.

She's a cutie for sure... European nose and all