HERO (2004) subtitles
Directed by Yimou Zhang
 
Jet Li Maggie Cheung
Tony Leung Zhang Ziyi
Donnie Yen Chen Daoming
 
A warrior relates his battle victories over the emperor's three greatest enemies.
 
One-word View: Rich
 
First of all, let's not compare this to Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. While using the Crouching styles that Ang Lee introduced to mainstream USA, director Zhang Yimou marches to his own martial arts drum and it was not a bad tune. The warrior (Jet) comes to see the King of Qin (Chen) to prove that he has eliminated the King's three major adversaries - - Sky (Donnie), Flying Snow (Maggie), and Broken Sword (Tony) - - and to receive his just rewards.

Many sitcoms have used the vehicle of retelling one story through the eyes of several people, thus always having a different hero. Well, this movie is somewhat similar in format in that we witness very different versions of the same story, only told by the same people. Are you confused? Everything is told in flashbacks based on the conversation between the warrior and the King; the latter's goal being to combine the battling lands into one great dynasty.

As was expected, the martial arts choreography was like watching Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers glide across the room. The most obvious bonus was the beautiful colors. Bold hues and swaying trees and vast open lands highlighted the story versions. There was an arrow thing that I want to tell you about so badly, but you just have to see it for yourself. Admittedly, no matter the rendering of the truth it all just went on a bit too long. Still, I liked the fact that there was no one real hero; and for each character, not unlike ourselves, there were very definitive strengths and weaknesses.

 
 
 
  movies books & more about me & vfh reach out to me home