Tian mai zhuan qi (2002) watch online HD

The Touch is Michelle Yeoh's first movie as producer, executive producer and writer (as well as star), and the first movie from her new production company. Now Michelle Yeoh is a smart and sensible woman (and she can kick ass with the best), so expectations for this big budget production with Peter Pau in the director's chair were naturally high - certainly I had high hopes for it. That changed when it came out and it seemed to be universally acclaimed a major disappointment. I almost decided to pass it over completely, but you know sometimes you have to see a certain movie even if you know it's going to be bad, 'cause it's still a 'significant' or 'important' film in some sense.

Thanks to all the negative press, my expectations for the movie were much lower when I sat down to watch it. I mean, we're talking the kind of expectations that make The Blacksheep Affair look like a good film... so it's not really a surprise that I found myself enjoying The Touch. But I mean I found myself *really* enjoying it. A lot!

First with the bad, the reasons people were presumably disappointed. There are some very cheesy moments in places, moments and lines that feel too artificially inserted, too 'script'. There's some bad acting in places - some from the bad guy's goons but most notably from Brandon Chang, who plays Michelle's younger brother (his girlfriend was pretty bad too, but she didn't have as much chance to show it). And most notably there are some really terrible special effects in the final climax - about 15 years out of date

But then with the good! First surprise, it's really funny! Most of the humour comes from the guest Gwei Los Ben Chaplin and Richard Roxburgh, both of whom have really good characters and some brilliant lines. They also break a long tradition of white actors in HK films by being really good, and not at all annoying. Richard Roxburgh's villain in particular is a charismatic classic. Then there's the story, which is all quite cheesy but reasonably involved and well developed. It's a good old fashioned adventure yarn. And then there's the production values... especially the great sets and locations filmed beautifully by Peter Pau. The soundtrack is really good too, though it sounds very Hollywood (I'm not normally a fan of Hollywood's overblown and generally forgettable soundtracks, but I like this one).

It must be said that The Touch does in many ways feel more like a Hollywood movie than a Hong Kong movie - the fact that it is 95% filmed in English undoubtedly being part of it. Hong Kong film makers normally fail miserably when they attempt to make a Hollywood style movie, but I think that this case represents a near success. If it weren't for those dreadful special effects I think it would have a very good chance of competing on the Hollywood distribution circuits. And I believe the production company have taken the unusual step of hiring a different firm (the normally excellent Centro) to completely redo the special effects for a US release. This may be one case where the US version of a HK movie actually improves on the original.

One thing that is expected of a Hong Kong movie starring Michelle Yeoh is obviously a high calibre of action. This is perhaps where the movie disappoints, as there isn't as much action in the film as I expect most viewers would have liked. There are a couple of fight scenes that show off Michelle's skills well, but Philip Kwok's choreography isn't all that exciting unfortunately. Not bad, but not up to the standard of Michelle's fights in Royal Warriors, for example. Especially disappointing is the final climax, which should have been a raw bone crunching showcase of martial arts prowess but is in fact a limp showcase of terrible CGI. Bad call to go the special effects route, Michelle!

If I hadn't had my expectations lowered by those who saw the movie before me, I guess there's a fair chance I'd have ended up disappointed in The Touch too. Because I wasn't expecting too much I found much more to enjoy than I bargained for. In fact, I'd say I enjoyed the movie more than any other 2002 Hong Kong movie I can think of (not saying much admittedly, since 2002 was a terrible year for HK movies). It's a movie I will happily watch again (though I'll wait for the US release perhaps) and have no hesitation recommending to others.

As a fan of Yeoh's films, I desperately felt I needed to see this film, I was impressed with the trailer but then it all led to disappointment when I saw the film. I was aware that the film was receiving bad reviews but when I saw it, it was not as bad as I thought it was but there were some major faults.

The use of incredible locations in the film was a plus, the story line sounded perfect for an adventure film and there was that wonderful combination of action, romance and comedy

I felt that one of the main flaws with the film was the ensemble of actors; though they do look good in their roles, the way they portrayed their characters was rather poor.

Yeoh's performance was not of a satisfactory level, but provided she got to use some martial arts in the film, I was happy.

Ben Chaplin, who plays Eric,provides most of the comic relief for the film, particularly when he attempts to sing a love song in Mandarin Chinese but forgets the words half way through the song. I am still wondering whether the character Bob was even meant to be funny at all as he was just pathetic throughout the film.

Brandon Chang and Margaret Wang who play Lily and Tong are newcomers, of all the actors in the film, their performances were the most disappointing; my reason is mainly that when they spoke, it sounded as if they were on a "lets talk English programme", they were expressionless and bland with their acting.

Another flaw was the use of special effects in the film, particularly in the climax that takes place in the burning cave, at the beginning of the scene, the flames looked real, but whoever was in charge of the cinematography made a huge mistake after applying the flames because the fire looked incredibly fake afterwards as well as a list of other faults concerning the CGI.

Despite the faults outweighing the good points, I did enjoy the film, but it was merely average.

"The Touch" is an adventure movie in the tradition of "Raiders of the Lost Ark". It tells the story of a Chinese family of artists who specialized in difficult jumps for many generations. Only such a jump, seeming impossible to anyone else, will make it possible to obtain a holy treasure. Two family members are kidnapped by a treasure hunter (Richard Roxburgh) to get the treasure for him. Yin (Michelle Yeoh), being the head of the family after the demise of her father, pursues them into the desert.

Genre movie without big surprises, but well made (except for the final fight which looks like computer game inspired green screen effects), featuring a female star who successfully avoids any Lara Croft similarities and uses her scarf both as a weapon and a swing rope. "The Touch" was shot in places where nobody else was allowed to film before. The landscapes of Tibet are impressive and make the movie more memorable than the thin plot deserves.

I managed to catch the premier of Datuk Michelle Yeoh's film during its premier in Malaysia on August 1st. I can say that Datuk Yeoh has done a wonderful job, as a producer and also as the main lead in this film.

The Touch tells the tale of a relic treasure known as the Sharira which is said to contain the pure essence of a Buddhist Holy Man. To protect this great treasure, the Monks of Dun Huang hid it. When the time has come to retrieve it, the monks turned to a family of acrobats. For hundreds of years, the family trained, passing on the skills required to retrieve the Sharira when the time comes.

Yin Fei (Datuk Yeoh) and her brother Tong (Brandon Chang in his debut), are the heirs to the skills of the long lineage of acrobats. One fateful day, Eric (Ben Chaplin), a man who used to be Yin's old flame shows up with the Heart of Dun Huang, a medallion which is the key to unlocking the secret location of the Sharira. Together, they embark on a perilous journey to discover what Yin's ancestors once guarded. And what do you know, there is always the rich, merciless, unscrupulous man, Karl(Richard Roxburgh), who will stop at nothing to get his greedy hands on the prized treasure.

Pretty much your average treasure hunter movies with a little touch of Indiana Jones. There is almost a Tomb Raider reference when Karl offered Yin his resources to find the Sharira together. Fortunately, Yin just rejected his offer by kickin' his butt. By far, the scenes featured in the film were breathtaking ( China and Tibet ), thanks to director Peter Pau, who also doubles as the film's cinematographer. Action scenes were well pulled off and linked using spectacular special effects. Just don't miss the 'fight' scene between Yin and Tong in the beginning of the movie which is just reminescence of the fight between the Monkey God and Na Za.

Brandon Chang who had just made his debut in this film, may one day be the next Jet Li. It is heard that his now under Datuk Yeoh's tutelage in martial arts and Kung Fu. Datuk Yeoh, after the phenomenal success of Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon , still manage to captivate the audiences with her acting and also her butt kickin'.

Way to go Datuk Yeoh!!

Unoriginal, poorly produced, poorly acted, and ultimately disappointing, this film takes the beautifully orchestrated acrobatic moves of Crouching Tiger (not to mention the leading lady), but executes them with an awkwardness surpassed only by the overused blue-screen and computer-generated special effects. Some of the action scenes were well done, but as a whole, it failed to bring anything more than what most low-grade action films offer.

The many attempts to inject humor into the film, via the classic "moronic American idiot" who bumbles around the film acting like he just left the set of latest Police Academy installment, is so out of place that it annoyinging disrupts the flow of the film and leaves the audience to wonder, "what the hell is that guy doing in this movie?"

Perhaps most disappointing were the performances of the two lead characters, who after promising roles in "Crouching Tiger" and "Birthday Girl" seemed to have settled for whatever script was tossed their way.

I rated this film a 4. It was compelling enough that I stayed to see the ending, but in the end, I wish that I hadn't. Utterly forgettable and disappointing...

I just saw The Touch at a theater here in China. That movie is fantastic !! Michelle Yeoh is great, amazingly charismatic, beautiful, and a remarkable martial artist. Ben Chaplin is great too, really at ease and perfectly believable. the movie itself is an amazing adventure flick, very funny by moments, and with an intense ending. Don't miss it, really !

As a huge fan of Michelle Yeoh, I was waiting with baited breath to see a beautifully photographed movie with her as the star. An English language movie that was supposed to have world-wide appeal, proof to everyone that she had the true star power she already had for me and many others. While the photography was gorgeous and her strength in the lead role was obvious, the story was weak. Worse yet, the action scenes seemed too slow and "choreographed-looking." The attempts at humor were not only poor, but got really annoying. Worst of all, Michelle played the role of a wonderfully dynamic, good-hearted, woman who still loves a heel, a former love and father of their son. Ben Chaplin does a good job of playing the role of a self-centered, unreliable, untrustworthy crook with absolutely no redeeming value. I know in real life lots of women love the worst men, so there's no escapism here. But this movie makes it look like its cool to be a jerk, making it all the harder to watch. I bought the DVD for my Michelle collection. How many times I'll be able to watch it, I don't know.

I do not have any idea why so many people posted adverse reviews of this movie. In any movie that has martial arts in it you have to let your self be carried into the theme. The same can be said for many other types of movies as well.

The Touch is a beautiful movie. Everything about it's imagery brings back a feeling of days gone by when big Hollywood pictures made their audience gasp at the beauty or the vastness for just a few examples.

This has special effects that look great. The story is interesting instead of just an excuse for martial arts to happen. We thought the idea and the way it was portrayed was wonderful and commanding. You can get lost in watching this movie as you care more and more about the characters and the problems they must handle. Dane Cook is even in there for a little extra humor to even things out, and does a very good job.

The story for it's type is believable and the people populating it deal with real life as well as the mystical world. One reviewer said that the love interest was a thief and was put off by that.

People sometimes change and learn and bond during rites of movie passage. Sometimes in real life the same thing can happen on a smaller scale.

I have never written a review before but I found myself needing to take up for this beautiful movie. I love it. My husband loves it. My only problem is that we rented it and the second disk is not included, so we are missing some of the specials. Perhaps even a commentary that is all in English, because the disk we have has one that is in a mixture of languages that is hard to follow.

This is a lovely film. In scope, in imagery, in story and in the of acting that brings forth that story. It is a film to cherish and watch many times.

One of the classic fantasy quest novels of ancient China serves as the basis for this film's story: JOURNEY TO THE WEST by Wu Cheng En. In it, the Buddhist Monk/Scholar Xuanzang accomplishes a pilgrimage to India with the help of three magical creatures: a powerful immortal monkey with an anti-authoritarian streak, a humanoid boar of immense power, gullibility and appetite and an even-tempered warrior monk. The same source material was the inspiration for anime like Dragonball Z.

In this case, The Touch starts off cleverly, and sort of creates the impression that it is a latter-day sequel to the novel especially in one of the fights that opens the movie: a re-creation of the famous scene in the novel where the Monkey duels with a hot-tempered Boy-God with the ability to manipulate fire. And with the fact that it is the Sharira (or crystal essence) of the Monk that is the motive for all the characters' actions. But it fails to cover this much further, sags in the middle and soon becomes a cliched and predictable adventure film featuring a booby-trapped room, fire, Tarzan-swinging and "leaps of faith".

Performances wise Michelle Yeoh is Michelle Yeoh, always up to snuff in her physical stunts and emotional nuances but set back by her grating Cantonese-Malayan inflections when speaking Mandarin and English. Ben Chaplin continues his trend of playing second fiddle to A-list females, from Winona Ryder, Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman to Michelle Yeoh. He's just the kind of guy A-list women like to have in their movies because he looks positively impotent. Richard Roxburgh seems to have walked in thinking he was going to act in a Shakespearean stage play and pretty much plays his stock villain character larger-than-life with hammy delivery.

Cinematography is first-rate, and the music is surprisingly pleasing, and that's about all. The story is weak, predictable and has the depth of a Disney cartoon. Characters are one-dimensional and stock. Peter Pau can handle visuals though what he's done is virtually retreading old ground, but as a director he still lacks vision and the ability to astonish emotionally. Any astonishment is mainly from the way he handles visuals, rarely from timing or the way he works on the imagination. A triumph of set design over plot this is, but what set design, and what cinematography!

Overall this movie is an elegantly-shot with potential for greatness, but just becomes little more than a passably entertaining, shortchanging adventure by the end.

Rating: 5.6 out of 10

My name is Jo. I live in BKK. I've already seen the movie here in Thailand and I think it's great especially the Tibetan part. I'd say well done to Michelle Yeoh because she has done such a good job. I'm impressed. Keep on going, Michelle! We love you. This is a greeting from your fans in Thailand. " JO & FRIENDS "

Ben Chaplin (Birthday Girl) plays Eric, a former acrobat turned thief for a wealthy, but deadly collector. When Eric finally steals an artifact of great importance to his acrobatic foster family, he decides to steal it back and begin a treasure hunt with his former child love, Michelle Yeoh.

The plot is the same as pretty much all the films of the genre. A group of noble treasure hunters goes out on a dangerous journey but is pursued by a killer and along the way they find love, loose a few people and end up happy.

The first hour you will admire that the sets aren't cheap and Ben Chaplin does a halfway decent job of playing Eric. Michelle is fair at best and the rest of the cast are awful. The rest of the film makes you wish you could fast forward to the climax and the treasure part....when you get there you will wish you hadn't wasted your time.

I guess it was inevitable that someone would remake INDIANA JONES with a female in the lead. Then again, American TV has been doing this for a few years now, what with RELIC HUNTER and the Angelina Jolie movie TOMB RAIDER.

Essentially a starring vehicle for producer Michelle Yeoh, THE TOUCH isn't all bad. Yeoh is good as the Indiana Jones wannabe, and Ben Chaplin is not half bad as her love interest/adopted brother. The inclusion of the two siblings, though, brings the whole thing down.

Also, a finale involving heavy CGI and a lot of ridiculous wireworks sinks the movie. INDIANA JONES was immensely popular, and it didn't need flaming arrows shooting all over the place or floors being engulfed by a sea of flames. In the end, the movie was just too bloated for its own good.

5 out of 10

(go to www.nixflix.com for a more detailed review of this movie or full-length reviews of other foreign films)

This film could have been good : Michelle Yeoh, Ben Chaplin, Richard Roxburgh (the funny duke in Moulin Rouge!) and Basil Poledouris (soundtrack). Instead of a good action/fantasy movie, we have this... thing. The story is so stupid, the special effects are very terrible. Oh, yes, you can see many good looking Asian hunks (Karl's group), but these good looking guys were not supposed to be the only interesting thing in The Touch. Poor Michelle Yeoh...

This is a very visual movie (like Crouching Tiger) which trades heavily on Chinese themes. The plot roles along -- not too complex, just good entertainment -- and Richard Roxburgh and Ben Chaplin reverse roles reminiscent of Dougray Scott and Richard Roxburgh in MI-2 (right down to cigars and tortured fingers). Michelle Yeoh is stunning in her part. She exudes a marvelous dash and flair combined with beauty that sets her apart from other actresses. She not only enjoys taking the reigns (all the time where Ben Chaplin is concerned) but looks damned good in the process.

It seemed like this Hong Kong adventure story had potential, but never really came together. I think the script was just too lacking, despite it's similarities to one of my favorites...Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Only Michelle Yeoh's acting stands out, while the others range from mediocre to over-the-top and unbelievable. It's nicely filmed in some scenic locations and the action scenes are fun...Yeoh kicks butt! But alas, the film as a whole let me down.

** (out of 4)

'Tian mai chuan qi' (AKA 'Touch') follows in the well paid path of the really gorgeous films that came out of Hong Kong and China (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, etc) but it raises the question 'Just how many of these small story visual epics are palatable in repetition? Michelle Yeoh recognizes successful financial formulas when she sees one and is at the crux of this flimsy little caper film, cashing in on the popularity of the genre.

The story is slight: a relic (ny the monks of Dan Huang. The monks call upon a family of acrobats (of course with a history of hundreds of years of secret training on how to accomplish this mission) to retrieve it. Pak Yin Fay (the very beautiful Michelle Yeoh) and her brother Tong (Brandon Chang) take on the mission - with a few glitches: Pak Yin Fay's old boyfriend Erik (Ben Chaplin) is a ne're-do-well thief who possesses the necessary Heart medallion required to open the location of the Sharira. But wouldn't you know, there appears an unscrupulous nasty guy Karl (Richard Roxburgh, a fine Australian actor out of Moulin Rouge, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Oscar and Lucinda, etc) who causes no end of problems at the site and initiates the reason for making this film: an extended martial arts dance on pillars above a CGI fire in the tomb - a place where nearly everyone in the cast is cremated after gallant swinging and flying! Yet of course it all ends well with the Sharira being returned to the happy monks in Tibet.

Corny, yes, but if martial arts films with lots of color and vistas of deserts and the holy city in Tibet stimulate you, then this film is worth your time. Michelle Yeoh is beautiful to watch, and both Ben Chaplin and Richard Roxburgh are fine enough actors to almost make you forget the pointless shallow lines they are force to deliver with as much comedic tone as they can milk from the script. Grady Harp

The biggest problem I have with this film - aside from the amazingly bad CGI effects, and we'll get to those later - is the fact that it so obviously rips off Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. All the story beats are there, from an ancient artefact to a secret hidden temple to a final test of character to a lousy father-child relationship to a desert location. And so on, ad nauseam.

The film also has big problems trying to decide whether it wants to be a comedy or not. Some scenes are played completely straight. They're played badly, but they're played straight. But then there's Bob (Dane Cook). He's the brother of the main villain and one of his henchmen. And he's so over the top goofy that it's almost impossible to believe it was not intentional. But the rest of the film seems like it's trying to take itself seriously. Well, as seriously as a kung fu Indiana Jones rip-off can, but still.

And then there's the special effects. They have not aged well. In fact, I don't believe they ever looked good to anyone. Quite honestly I've seen better graphics in early Playstation One games. That's not a high bar to cross, but somehow this film fails to manage even that much.

I love you, Michelle Yeoh, I really do, but unfortunately this is one your movies I wish I hadn't seen.

Collector Karl employs thief Eric to steal the box containing the Heart of Dun Huang, an artifact of some power, carved by Tibetan monks in 1242. The Heart, supposedly, will lead Karl's people to the sharira, the crystallized essence of the holy monk Shen Zhong from the 13th century. This plays out while Yin Fay is performing her circus act in public with her troupe.

Tong takes the Heart to the place Dun Huang; Yin and Eric follow. Karl catches up and gets filled in by his forward spy, who had been tailing Tong. Tong and his girl friend Lily find a possible source of knowledge, just as Karl catches them. Eric and Yin make their way to Dun Huang about the same time.

Yin and Eric find the next piece of the puzzle: an urn filled with fluid. Karl steals it from them and heads for the final hiding place. He uses the Heart and the contents of the urn to open the place up.

So many traps, so little time. The circus/acrobat training turns out to be essential, of course. After securing the sharira, Eric, Yin, and Tong travel to Lhasa to give the sharira and the surrounding gold monkeys to some Buddhist officials.

The ending is a bit mysterious and a possible sequel is setup.

-----Scores-----

Cinematography: 8/10 Some of the acrobatics footage was bad enough that I wish they had dropped it. Other than that, the production values were rather high, and the film looked quite good.

Sound: 8/10 Quite good, except for the over the top Foley thrown in for the hits during fighting. Some of the incidental music was really good.

Acting: 8/10 Liked the principal actors.

Screenplay: 8/10 The script balanced fighting and questing well enough.

English dialogues between Yinfei (Michelle Yeoh) and Eric (Ben Chaplin) or Karl (Richard Roxburgh) are common sense. English dialogues between Yinfei and Yuetong (Brandon Chang) are still fine. But an English-speaking monk (Lung Sihung)? NOT alright. His lines in Mandarin would have carried more weight, in directly translated English they sounded rather laughable. Also, it was an obvious struggle by Lung Sihung to say the lines in English. Why is all the English necessary, even in occasions when the lines were better NOT in English? Obviously it was to cater for an audience used to English, i.e. a Western audience.

Asians place a lot of emphasis on hierarchy in addressing people. Yinfei was right when she told her younger brother that she was head of the family and the family does not practise democracy, therefore her word was law. However, the script writers forgot that in Asia, younger siblings do not call their older siblings by name. It was odd to hear Yuetong call Yinfei "Yin" instead of "Jiejie" which means "Elder Sister" in Mandarin.

My cultural grouses aside, `The Touch' is a rather good film. Michelle Yeoh, is quite simply, an excellent actress and her name definitely deserves to be amongst the best of today's Chinese actresses (and international actresses, for that matter.) She IS Bai Yinfei, a wonderful mix of East and West, and a true model for the modern Asian woman. Stunning in her own right, yet does not outshine all her male co-stars.

The cinematography was excellent, comparable to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Although that's not too surprising, since it's the same cinematographer, Peter Pau (2001 Oscar winner for Best Cinematography). The music was thrilling and brought the right touch of excitement and suspense to the film. In short, `The Touch' is a exceptional film in its own right.

To the most cynical of critics, I say this: if nothing else, the gripping firetrap scene (complete with the flame-tipped arrows) alone is worth the price of the movie ticket.

After TOMORROW NEVER DIES Michelle Yeoh was on top of the world. But instead of continuing her Hollywood career (which knowing Hollywood would have been restricted to very stereotypical Asian woman roles anyway), she began her own new production company and launched THE TOUCH, an Indiana Jones like caper, as her first picture. International distributors lined up around the block to get dibs on this hot property, shot mostly in English to get that international angle. But what was finally released was poorly paced by director Peter Pau, who seems unable to bring energy to a scene to save his life, and saddled with the worst CGI effects I have seen in any movie in a long, long time. The retro-oriental adventure concerns a map which reveals the location of some magic Tibetan artifact which looks like a glowing snow-cone, and retrieval of the artifact by Yeoh's family of acrobats, specially trained through many generations for that purpose. Hint to the filmmakers: When making a movie about a band of acrobats, please cast people who can actually do a little acrobatics. Instead, we have the likes of newcomer Brandon Chang, who not only does not seem capable of a somersault, is a terrible actor to boot. Ben Chaplin is Yeoh's love interest, and Richard Roxburgh is the British bad guy. Although improving the CGI won't improve the bad acting and plodding direction, maybe it would fix the climactic ending, in which fire, stone, rope, and bodies in motion all absolutely refused to obey any known laws of physics. Michelle Yeoh deserves better than starring in her own vanity pictures.

I had a crush on Michelle Yeoh, I am still a big fan and tries to catch every film that she's in. And with high hopes going in watching this movie, I poised myself for a big let down. Even with gorgeous locations and good castings, this movie always just teetered on developing a good story but did not carry through. Actions and fights were almost actions but not quite. It just everything were "almosts." And one thing about CGs: you can't do CGs on the cheap! It looks cheesy, and any kind of "suspension of disbelief" up to that point goes right down the drain. At the end of the day, it was "almost" an action drama, almost a movie.

I can say it all in one sentence: "one of the worst movies EVER!" I can not believe Michelle Yeoh agreed to play in this movie! I was waiting for something big to happen at the end, but the more it got closer to ending credits, the more I realized how I wasted my time on this movie.

Action, Adventure, Romance, Humor all rolled into one!

I think not. Who in the right mind would watch something like this? It is one thing to go into a bad movie knowing you are going to expect one. I would rate this movie worse than Mortal Kombat II.

The action moves overdone... this is just not the Matrix nor the Crouching Tiger.

Adventure is mediocre at best because it does not make any sense.

Whoever wrote this script needs to get their brains rewired because anyone will puke at the sight of any of the romantic interactions.

Humor? Yeah leave this one for the last because they are all dry. At least Jackie Chan has a funny personality which make his attempt honorable. Michelle on the other hand is like Jean Claude Vandamme making his jokes. And the entire cast is just a joke.

The funniest part is when it premiered in Malaysia, Michelle Yeoh was so adamant about destroying every pirated copy of this movie. I can see why.... This production should pass GO and head to the dumpster.

The only redeeming part of this movie was the sumptuous cinematography and settings used. Simply breathtaking.

OK, now for the meat of it. It felt to me that Michelle Yeoh was leveraging off her dubious success in Tiger/Dragon and Tomorrow Never Dies to bridge the gap from HK chop-schlocky movies to something passably "international". Boy did she ever set her career back with this stinker. The plot was horribly derivative, and full of holes. The action sequences, albeit nicely choreographed, felt rushed and the fight pacing was jerky and obviously wired. The special effects were second-rate at best, with obvious seams visible and CGI clearly recognizable.

Roxburgh and Chaplin did their best in the movie, and Yeoh was shockingly wooden.

I had an attack of the giggles part way through the movie, and it worsened with the ludicrous plot developments, culminating in a full-fledged laughing attack when the Tibetan monk at the end spoke so badly they had to subtitle him... even though he was attempting to speak English.

In summary, I feel somewhat insulted at having had to pay to see this movie.