Rating: 
Summary: interesting movie
Review: the plot is a bit hard to follow in places. otherwise a typical over-the-top kung fu movie. The ending theme song is wonderful though. If Michelle ever gives up acting she still has a career as a singer.
Rating: 
Summary: donnie yen and michelle yeoh are the only good things...
Review: This film cannot be categorized as a martial arts film. Unlike the recent released Iron Monkey, Butterfly Sword's action scenes are so chaotic and confusing that you cannot really tell whether a person is fighting a deadly opponent or is simply twisting in the air for fun. With body parts flying everywhere, you wonder if you are watching a horror film. It is not a fantasy film either. There obviously is no ghost or gods, and supposedly people in this film don't really possess supernatural powers. Therefore, the action scenes can only be said to be insulting to either genre. Despite a strong cast and beautiful scenery, the movie ultimately disappoints. One saving grace for this film is Donnie Yen. Though his great talents were wasted in his fight scenes due to over-use of wires, poor camera work and disastrous editing, he managed to compensate by putting more heart and warmth into his character, the ever serious but sincere Yip, who is the only likable character in the film. Too bad we have not seen Donnie Yen as often as we see Jet Li or Jackie Chan. A much better actor than Jet Li and extremely gifted in martial arts, he exuberates a certain charisma that simply draws people to him, either in a major role or a supporting role. Michelle Yeoh on the other hand is marvelous. She conveys emotions just as effectively as she does swirls and kicks. The scene where she glides through the air between two bamboo trees is one of few good action scenes in the movie, but it perhaps is one of the most graceful and elegant scenes I have seen in any martial art films. Two stars for Michelle and Donnie.
Rating:
Summary: A lot of good action but confusing as heck
Review: This is a pretty fun movie, with lots and lots of crazy action, and some pretty well acted scenes, but it is unbelievably confusing, so you never totally get behind the characters. Michelle Yeoh looks great and does a decent job but she just seems too wholesome to pull off the role of the somewhat evil kung fu master. She is not as intense as Brigitte Lin who is really the master of that sort of character. Tony Leung, Donnie Yen, and Joey Wang are all really great in this movie. This is highly recommended for HK fans but not so much for casual kung fu fans who are better off with something like Swordman II. Be warned that there are mandarin only editions of this movie on the market, so make sure you are getting a cantonese version if that is what you want.
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