House of Flying Daggers was most excellent. Not as much obvious wire work as some of the others of this genre. There was certainly great leaping and jumping and spinning, but none of the characters floated in the air for three minutes, bounced off of rain drops, etc.

I really loved listening to the soundtrack. I think it was played up more (or at least I noticed it more) because the viewer knows that the girl is blind. The rustling of the bamboo, the clang of the swords, the thump of the spears, the crackling of twigs, and the rasps of breath...all of it caught my notice in a way that foley work rarely ever does. Not in a bad way, though. It wasn't distracting. Instead, it actually helped draw me in.

One outstanding way in which films like this differ from Western action movies is the use of stillness. Western action films don't tend to be still; when there isn't "snappy" dialogue or the sounds of gunfire and/or explosions, the pounding soundtrack takes care of the rest. There is no time for comtemplation.

Zhang Ziyi continues to be breathtaking. I love watching martial arts movies and seeing this delicate flower of a girl kicking ass and taking names. I suppose it is too much to ask to expect a movie were the lovers don't die. It wouldn't fit the genre. Still...I'm not ashamed to admit that I love happy endings.