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Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Yuen Woo-ping
Screenplay by	John Fusco
Based on	Iron Knight, Silver Vase; by Wang Dulu
Produced by	Charlie Nguyen; Harvey Weinstein;
Starring	Donnie Yen; Michelle Yeoh;
Cinematography	Newton Thomas Sigel
Edited by	Jeff Betancourt
Music by	Shigeru Umebayashi
Production; companies	The Weinstein Company ; China Film Group ; Pegasus Taihe Entertainment ; Yucaipa Films
Distributed by	Netflix; The Weinstein Company;
Release dates	February 18, 2016 (Hong Kong); February 19, 2016 (China); February 26, 2016 (United States);
Running time	101 minutes
Countries	United States; China;
Language	English
Box office	US$38.6 million

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny (Chinese: 卧虎藏龙：青冥宝剑) is a 2016 wuxia film directed by Yuen Woo-ping and written by John Fusco, based on the novel Iron Knight, Silver Vase by Wang Dulu. It is also a sequel to the 2000 film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The film stars Donnie Yen, Michelle Yeoh, Harry Shum Jr., Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Jason Scott Lee and Eugenia Yuan. The film was released in Hong Kong on February 18, in mainland China on February 19 and worldwide on Netflix outside China on February 26, 2016.

Plot

The Qingming Sword was the sword that the great hero Li Mubai carried with him during his lifetime. Twenty years ago, Li Mubai gave it to Tie Beile. The Qingming Sword carries the chivalry of Li Mubai and Tie Beile, and has become the banner that commands the world.

Dai Yanwang, an abandoned disciple of Wudang, attacked Tie Xiaobeile's mansion at night to seize the Qingming Ancient Sword. The deceived Luo Xiaohu helped him to do evil. After Yu Jiaolong gave birth to her son Tie Ping, he was replaced by her daughter Xue Ping. The adopted daughter Xue Ping secretly helped her to recognize Tie Ping as her father and son. A melee broke out in the world, and everyone captured Dai Yanwang.

This time, Tie Beile passed away, and the world was leaderless. The evil demon Dai Yanwang was ready to move. Yu Xiulian joined hands with her old friend Meng Sizhao to return to the world. The love, hatred, and hatred of the old and new generations of knights were involved in the bloody storm of fighting for the sword.

Cast

Donnie Yen as Silent Wolf
Michelle Yeoh as Yu Shu Lien
Harry Shum Jr. as Wei Fang
Natasha Liu Bordizzo as Snow Vase
Jason Scott Lee as Hades Dai
Eugenia Yuan as Blind Enchantress
Roger Yuan as Iron Crow
JuJu Chan as Silver Dart Shi
Chris Pang as Flying Blade
Woon Young Park as Thunder Fist
Darryl Quon as Turtle Ma

Production

In January 2013, it was reported that a sequel to the 2000 film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon would begin shooting in May, with Harvey Weinstein producing. Fight choreography would be by Yuen Woo Ping, The script by John Fusco would be based on the fifth and final book of the Crane-Iron Series, Iron Knight, Silver Vase.^[2] On March 18, 2013, actor Donnie Yen confirmed rumors that he had been offered a role in the new film.^[3] Around the same time, there were also conflicting reports on whether Michelle Yeoh had been asked to reprise her role of Yu Shu Lien.^[2]^[4]

On May 16, 2013, it was officially announced that the sequel had been approved by the studio. Initially titled Iron Knight, Silver Vase (the same title as its source material), the film was then re-titled Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: The Green Legend. Donnie Yen was confirmed to star as Silent Wolf while Michelle Yeoh was confirmed to be reprising her role as Yu Shu Lien.^[5]^[6]

On August 20, 2013, it was reported that Zhang Ziyi was in talks to reprise her role as Jen Yu, but Zhang's agent Ji Lingling told the media that that was not true and stated, "Zhang would reprise her role only if the director was Ang Lee".^[7] If talks happened they did not result with Zhang's addition to the production. Instead Shuya Chang was cast while the character appears to have been renamed Han Mei, who is very similar in background as a rogue swordswoman of Wudan to the Jen Yu character.

On June 16, 2014, it was announced that the film would be co-produced by Pegasus Media, China Film Group Corporation, and The Weinstein Company, with a release date in 2016.^[8] On July 30, 2014, actor Harry Shum, Jr. was cast in the role of Wei-Fang.^[9]

While it was initially announced that production on the film would begin in June 2014 with location shooting in New Zealand and China, shooting was later bumped to August 2014.^[10]^[11] In September 2014, Variety reported that principal photography was underway in New Zealand.^[12]

The leaked order from the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film, and Television (SAPPRFT) Department of Film Management revealed the film's production was approved with amendments, including replacing the White Lotus Society with a fictitious martial arts faction, downplaying "Oppose the Qing, Restore the Ming" content, controlling the amount of gore and violence, and amending Yu Xiulian's line "A superior army breaks its enemy without fighting," to "The army which breaks its enemy without fighting is the superior one."^[13]

The film was shot in English and dubbed to Mandarin, unlike its predecessor which was the other way around.^[14]

Release

On September 29, 2014, it was announced that Netflix and The Weinstein Company's Harvey Weinstein had made a deal to release the feature film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon II: The Green Legend on Netflix.^[15] The sequel would be released via RADiUS-TWC simultaneously on Netflix and in selected IMAX theatres on August 28, 2015.^[16] The day after Netflix's announcement, American cinema chain Regal Entertainment Group announced that they would not show the film in their theaters. Regal's Russ Nunley declined to be part of "an experiment where you can see the same product on screens varying from three stories tall to 3 inches wide on a smart phone", as opposed to a regular theater experience.^[17] The same day, AMC, Carmike Cinemas, Cinemark Theatres, and Cineworld also announced they would not show the film.^[18] IMAX's CEO Richard Gelfond argued on the rejection by some chains, saying, "This is a test, and I can't tell you for sure that it's going to work, but I can tell you for sure that attempting to innovate is a good idea because as technology changes, viewers change, and we have to figure out what does or doesn't work".^[19] On July 7, 2015, the film was removed from the August 28, 2015 slot and was moved back to a fourth-quarter day and date release.^[20] The film was scheduled to be released in China on February 8, 2016, but was pushed back to February 19.^[21] The film was released worldwide outside China on Netflix and in 10–15 IMAX screens in the United States on February 26, 2016.^[22]

Reception

The film grossed US$20.8 million on its opening weekend in China.^[23]

Critical reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 20% of 35 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.15/10. The website's consensus reads: "Paling in comparison to its predecessor in every conceivable way, Sword of Destiny is a lazy sequel that never justifies its own cynical existence."^[24] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 47 out of 100, based on 13 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.^[25]

Justin Chang of Variety wrote: "Trading on the pedigree of Ang Lee's 2000 Oscar winner but capturing none of its soulful poetry, this martial-arts mediocrity has airborne warriors aplenty but remains a dispiritingly leaden affair with its mechanical storytelling, purely functional action sequences and clunky English-language performances."^[26]

Novel

In March 2015, Weinstein Books announced that a film tie-in novel had been written by Justin Hill.^[27] The novel was released on January 26, 2016.^[28]