This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

I like Black Panther, but I didn't like this movie.

Absolutely Fantastic

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

In 2001 and 2002, BMW debuted 8 different short films on the internet by some of the top directors in the world. It's hard to imagine, but they got the great John Frankenheimer, Wong Kar Wai, John Woo as well as top acting talent for these films. Each film had to have two things in common--they had to feature BMWs and each starred Clive Owen! In addition, actors such as Gary Oldman, Madonna, Forrest Whitaker and mickey Rourke made appearances in some of the films. Wow...it's obvious BMW pulled out all the stops when it came to the budgets for these amazingly slick films.This particular film was made by Ang Lee and while I'll freely admit that it was not among the best of the eight, it was fun to watch and I did laugh at the end--something I don't tend to do when I see films. The problem was not his direction or the acting--they were just great. But the film, aside from the end, was almost all action and little story--the sort of films that just don't appeal to me. HOWEVER, I must also point out that much of the seemingly shallow story did attain some greater depth at the end and overall it is a very nice little film. I won't say anything about the plot--just see it for yourself.

This is the first time when not only all user comments but also the IMDb.com's official plot summary misses the point completely.Well, as it's one fine oriental story, this is nothing to be terribly ashamed of. Let me help you a bit: Hint #1: Where is Ang Lee born? Yes, right - in Taiwan. So what? Ha, let me explain - can you name a country that Taiwanese people fear the most? Hai, you are right again - this is China. So don't expect too positive approach towards the People's Republic of China here.Hint #2: (As one comment already correctly mentioned it) the boy (and the monks) are Tibetans. What did Chinese do to Tibet in 1949-1950? They invaded an independent country and Tibet is occupied since then. What happened to unique Tibetan culture under Chinese rule? It was systematically destroyed. Not a good example for Taiwanese people..**** SPOILERS START *****The boy is "chosen for a strange ritual" :) I think we can be more precise now. What is the greatest ritual in Tibet? The finding of the next Dalai Lama, The Chosen One.**** SPOILERS END ***** Only one piece of this fine oriental mystery left unsolved - who are the bad guys, then? No, i can't tell you, i already wrote SPOILERS END above here.. :)I gave it 7 points out of 10, because it is impossible to join the commercial and oriental art. But Ang Lee's masterpiece gives us fine example how close we can get.

I know that many think of Ang Lee as a very good, interesting director... but I don't. He makes action(if you can even call it that, when he's directing) look pretty, poetic... I'm sorry, have I been asleep and awoken in the future, where action isn't supposed to be cool, exciting and intense, like it has been since sometime in the 70's? He can make even the most interesting and exciting scene seem boring and dull. He ruins everything by choreographing his car-chases like cars dancing(like another reviewer points out) and by using classical music during action(again, I don't know if anything in this can be classified as action, since it's so dull). Lee screwed up Hulk by making it drag a hell of a lot and by directing poorly(half of the acting was bad). He ruined what little potential Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon had, by having them dancing instead of fighting. He seriously needs to turn his attention to something other than action, or learn how to properly direct action, before the rest of the world wises up and ignores his work. No intensity, no laughs and a cringe-worthy ending make this a waste of time. Skip this one. 6/10

While John Frankenheimer's AMBUSH was a hardboiled vignette, Ang Lee's THE CHOSEN is an attempt at doing a lighthearted mixture of action and comedy. Unfortunately Ang Lee's comedy falls flat. While he might showcase the BMW's maneuverability to good effect; The actual chase between Clive Owen's enigmatic driver escorting a small Tibetan boy and the mysterious henchmen seeking to harm his charge, is staged in a light jokey tone that eliminated all tension and replaces it with uninspired slapstick. Indeed, as the film progresses to its punchline of a conclusion, one suspects that Ang Lee was seeing how to make a film that kids would like along with adults in preparation for his then-upcoming HULK movie (as hinted at near the end). While the final result might be something BMW owners can show to their children, adults will find themselves bored and frustrated.