I had followed the production of this film avidly and quickly ordered a copy as soon as it became available. Being a big fan of Michelle Yeoh's, the thought of her as the lead character in a twenty million dollar movie was very appealing. I loved her work in the very funny and entertaining WING CHUN (click HERE to see a review of that film), and her role in CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON (click to see a review) made her known to a large audience outside China (finally!).

I decided to view it at my optimum time of 2AM, an hour that offers quiet and a certain dark ambience. When the appointed time finally arrived, I tossed in the DVD, sat back, and prepared myself for something special (For reasons that I can't comprehend, I was like a child at Christmas - full of hope and expectation.). In English but set in China, the movie opened with a very nice soundtrack. The first scene was mesmerizing: pouring rain, a dark building, a strange looking man ominously fills the screen - but we have no idea who or what he is. Suddenly we realize that he's in front of an audience, bizarre clowns rush here and there, and he announces the presence of a brother and sister team of acrobats. Soon we're being treated to a Cirque de Soleil kind of experience - costumes sporting vibrant colors, artistic movements between bother (Chang) and sister (Yeoh) - mesmerizing stuff. Then, just as I decided that my hopes for an exceptional film had been realized, the movie cut to a mansion and "introduced" us to the main bad guy (Richard Roxburgh).

What had been moody and artistic a moment before suddenly turned on its ear when the villain - a cool, calm, well-bred rich psychopath - turned out to hire nothing but imbeciles and fools. This began a running joke: he kept demanding excellence from his criminal employees, and they kept letting him down. Watching this Abbott & Costello gibbering, depression set in as the film fragmented before my very eyes.

Then, like magic, we were whisked back to more ethereal acrobatics, where Yeoh and Chang reached new artistic heights by battling in darkness (she had a staff and he had two large, sharp rings), their weapons and clothes glowing beautifully through the gloom.

For a moment I thought the villain scene had been a bad dream, or perhaps a flashback caused by my misspent youth. But no, soon it became clear that the story had settled into a simple good guy vs. over the top bad guy theme, with the usual helpings of hard to believe romance, pseudo-mysticism, and forced humor.

Tumbling from its initial artistic perch, I realized that I was watching a poor man's Tomb Raider/Ms. Indiana Jones. Creativity leapt out the window, stilted dialogue ruled, fight scenes were minimal, and the effects at the end were quite unsatisfactory.

On a positive note, exotic locations and some beautiful cinematography give us a lift from time to time. Unfortunately, these few breathtaking scenes don't make up for the horrible writing - the actors aren't allowed to add depth or logic to their characters and, of course, this makes the movie a disaster. The best example of this is Ben Chaplin's role as a thief and love interest to Yeoh. We get to see a bit of his early history as a starving youth in a foreign land. But when we see him again as an adult, we see a man without depth - a man that hasn't seemed to learn anything at all from life's lessons. Chaplin's "thief" could have had so many layers, and an internal struggle with his white roots and Asian upbringing would have created a character worthy of Yeoh's (and the audiences!) attention (she plays a very strong, centered woman).

All in all, THE TOUCH is a case of wasted potential. There are lots of great films out there waiting to be watched. This one should be avoided and forgotten.