The Ten Movies That Defined My Decade.

6. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Ang Lee, 2000)

I had never liked martial arts films.
I used to think of them as the mindless entertainment that could only keep brutish, ignorant, heterosexual males occupied.
Then I saw this movie.
The minute Michelle Yeoh's character high kicks and then begins to fly I was in a trance.
With its sweeping mix of epic adventure, mythology and sweeping romance it redefined what I thought of as genre.
After watching this movie I became more open to genres I'd never even consider watching before.
Lee became a master of genre bending. Just see how his "Hulk" is more psychological drama than superhero flick and "Lust, Caution" is one of the greatest spy thrillers to arrive in the form of erotic essay.
When he delivered "Brokeback Mountain" he was again establishing his disdain for established cinematic rules by making a revisionist Western with tragic romance.
I think I'm the only person who didn't like that movie, but I respected what he was trying to do.
To me however "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" was his pinnacle.

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor **

Director: Rob Cohen
Cast:
Brendan Fraser,
Maria Bello
Jet Li,
John Hannah,
Luke Ford
Isabella Leong,
Michelle Yeoh

Set fourteen years after "The Mummy Returns", this new adventure has the O'Connells, Rick (Fraser) and Evy (Bello) living a quiet life in England, while their son Alex (Ford) uncovers the tomb of the legendary Emperor Han (Li) in China.
Looking to put some excitement back into their lives, Rick and Evy sign up for a special mission and in Shanghai discover that there's a plot to bring back to life the emperor their son found.
Soon enough they are all involved in an exciting chase that has them travelling through the Himalayas, battling a Terracotta army and looking for the mysterious Shangri-La.
If we can make it with CGI, it will happen, seems to be the ongoing motto of the film, which features a constantly renewing mummy, who like most of the film has lost the thrilling sense of surprise and tries to impress by exploiting its resources.
The film is often at its best when it captures the interaction between Rick and Evy, with Fraser relying on his great charm to convince us he does this as a lifestyle and while it's tricky to get adjusted to Rachel Weisz's change, Bello reinvents Evy, as a less bookish, more strong willed woman just coming to terms with the power of her sexuality.
Li is used as a token martial arts expert and Hannah, as he has in previous entries, pretty much steals every scene he's in as well as Yeoh, who has the presence of a grand dame of cinema and happens to know how to high kick.
While the previous entries (particularly the first one, which was a breath of fresh air in the adventure blockbuster) had the situations unfold at the service of an innocent, exciting story, every scene here seems to have been made for the mere purpose of leading to a gargantuan battle between dead armies, which sadly is less impressive than director Cohen thinks and the film sometimes tries too hard to impress its audience.
The original "Mummy" was bold enough to create terror with shadows and the appearance of a shaky hand wrapped in bandage, while this one with all its explosions, chases and effects never musters a gasp.
Whatever happened to this film that made it think of wonder as an archaelogical artifact?