Agreeably it isn't that new in form or substance or probably even style, but it's so much more than just a martial arts flick. I love how the action sequences have a sort of mystical quality that flaunts the wirework, I love how the story doesn't just spell everything out, and it addresses basic Asian spiritual ideas in a simple manner.
Is it better than the Matrix? The Matrix could never have existed without all the Hong Kong films, without all the wire-fu, and without a whole bunch of other film influences. The Matrix is the first DVD I bought actually, that's how much I love it. But these are two radically different films. CTHD is a romantic period piece with spiritual and moral messages. Just imagine if the wirework in the Matrix had been romanticized like it is in CTHD. People would have laughed, and you'd have ended up with a bunch of Simpsons' comic book dealer types defending it, lamely, to its death (not that we don't all ready have that anyway). Still, I'm just as in love with CTHD as the Matrix, and I still love a lot of other martial arts films with or without wire-fu or romanticism or mysticism. I wished Jet Li had been in this. I liked him and Yeoh in Tai Chi Master. But if nothing else it revives all my brain cells that were damaged by seeing that putrid rot called The Grinch.
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Is it better than the Matrix? The Matrix could never have existed without all the Hong Kong films, without all the wire-fu, and without a whole bunch of other film influences. The Matrix is the first DVD I bought actually, that's how much I love it. But these are two radically different films. CTHD is a romantic period piece with spiritual and moral messages. Just imagine if the wirework in the Matrix had been romanticized like it is in CTHD. People would have laughed, and you'd have ended up with a bunch of Simpsons' comic book dealer types defending it, lamely, to its death (not that we don't all ready have that anyway). Still, I'm just as in love with CTHD as the Matrix, and I still love a lot of other martial arts films with or without wire-fu or romanticism or mysticism. I wished Jet Li had been in this. I liked him and Yeoh in Tai Chi Master. But if nothing else it revives all my brain cells that were damaged by seeing that putrid rot called The Grinch.