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Review

Hero

Director

Zhang Yimou

Year

2002

Rating

Reviewed by

Gon Curiel a.k.a. Groucho

Review date

Monday, March 10, 2003

Recently I got the unexpected chance to see this film, which has been nominated for a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, so I’ll tell you about it.

Historical facts of ancient China meet legendary treatment of tales of old in this story of conspiracy against the King of Qin (Daoming Chen), one of the seven kingdoms back in the days when China was not unified. A Man With No Name (Jet Li) has defeated three of the deadliest enemies of the King: Sky (Donnie Yen), Broken Sword (Tony Leung Chiu Wai) and Flying Snow (Maggie Cheung). The King has summoned this man and allowed him to get dangerously near him, which is a risk such man can only take with someone who’s proved to be on his side. The Nameless Man starts telling his tale, which we see in flashback. However, his version of the procedures just might not be completely true.

Hero is a magnificent Martial Arts/Asian Legend epic, with every ingredient to make it enjoyable: big scale effects, outstanding settings and cinematography, and haunting music (by Tan Dun). The performances are credible if not exactly great, but it’s not the actors’ fault but the script’s, for no character is more profound than one layer, two at best. That’s a shame, especially for the main character, who could have and should have gone further in development. His motivations are unclear because we never really get to feel them coming from him. Still as I said, it’s not really the actors’ fault; everyone does their best, to be sure.

Another problem of this film is that director Zhang Yimou, of The Road Home (1999) fame, attempted to create a sort of Rashomon (1950) meets Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) experience, and wasn’t successful in the aspects that made those films internationally successful classics. There’s no poignant character study and the legendary treatment isn’t exactly unforgettable. In fact, it’s treated in such a way that it can be catalogued as a popcorn movie much easier, and that’s quite sad.

I don’t think this film is completely unsuccessful however, but far from it. The Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)-like fights are still irresistible, the flying more moderate (not to say that I disliked it, but I know some people who had a problem with it), and the story somewhat fascinating, and credible, so the movie’s good fun. Watch out for the first fight involving Nameless and Sky… Certainly one of Jet Li’s brightest moments. And what about that army of arrows attack? Never saw anything like that before! Gorgeous Zhang Ziyi appears in a small role and delights as usual.

Overall, something unmemorable to check out for fun.

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Other reviews of Hero (2002): Morris