Hi, Min,
Thank you for the correction. Duh, sorry for the misprint--it was late when I posted last night--thank you for catching my type-o. Zhang Ziyi is the attractive young starlet in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The Director I was TRYING to refer to, but tripped over my own fingers, was Zhang YiMou. Thanks for the save.
By the way, "Shaolin Ssu" means "Young Forest Temple". It was Jet Li's first film, from 1982 (I think Li Lian Jie was 18 years old when it was filmed?), and despite the super low budget and confusing editing, was a great film, nevertheless. As I mentioned before, I also am eagerly anticipating Ying Xiong ("Hero"), and hope that Jet Li is able to redeem himself, show us more of the quality he's capable of, and make up for some of his more recent projects that beg to be ridiculed. Which is unfortunate, because I also think Jet Li is cool, seems to be a very nice fellow, and works very hard on the sub-standard projects he's been handed so far. So, the irony is that at the same time I berate some of his films, I want to apologize to him. I thought "Kiss of the Dragon" started out interestingly enough, and had the most promise of his recent films, but somewhere around the 2nd act (the middle of the film), they seemed to have disgarded the plot they were trying to build, and the film just kind of unwound & crumbled.
The subplot that Jet Li inserted in "The One" (the Xingyi vs. Bagua conflict, which I liked, because those are the martial arts I've been studying) was more interesting than the disappointingly ridicoulous 'Time Machine meets Highlander' formula of the original script--despite the interesting special effects, the concept & plot of the film sunk the expensive effects, over-the-top-action, and actors that desperately struggled to keep it afloat.
So, to Jet Li, here's to your redemption--we're hoping you & your next film(s) shine.
