The plot of Crouching Tiger isn’t especially difficult to follow; the only time it’s confusing is when it jumps to the desert scenes, as it’s not made clear that these are flashbacks to Zhang Ziyi’s past.

The sword is called the Green Destiny, not the Sword of Destiny, and it isn’t stolen on the way to anywhere. It is stolen once it arrives in Beijing. Michelle Yeoh and Chow Yun-Fat don’t go on a quest to find it, they ascertain who has got it without really going anywhere. The plot is more about their attempt to help Zhang Ziyi follow the right path, and at the same time escape from an arranged marriage and her criminal mistress (Jade Fox). It’s also about their own love for one another and the difficulty they face in being together.

The notion of near-flight and exceptional agility is common in similar wuxia films, and features equally in ‘House of Flying Daggers’ and ‘Hero’.

This is an excellent and beautiful film, as the review rightly concludes, it’s just a shame that some of these details are a bit off.