Granted, the tale of the aristocratic Jen (played by Zhang Ziyi), her tangles with martial-arts masters Li Mubai (Chow Yun Fat) and Yu Shulien (Michelle Yeoh, fresh from her recent successful turn as a Bond girl), and her torrid romance with rough-hewn Lo (Chang Chen) is not that gripping.
Yu Shu Lien (Michelle Yeoh), probably the least excitable action heroine in modern movies, is given a sword by Li Mu Bai (Chow Yun Fat), for safekeeping.