[encumeterz]

OK this is a re-post from my review in March, as the film is out in the US maybe I can get more people's own thoughts ie. agreements/disagreements on it as the feedback was meh last time.

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“The Hero, “Jet Li’s…Hero”, Quentin Tarantino presents…..Hero” or just plain “Hero” has been out in Japan on DVD and VCD for just over a year now, and I FINALLY managed to get a copy last week, but it is a VCD. In China they release all movies on VCDs aswell as DVDs, and this copy is LEGIT but must add, as with all VCDs it is very easy to copy . The casing is remarkably different, its a hard-backed cardboard which allows 2 CDs to be stored vertically.

The whole film is in Mandarin Chinese but has auto-subtitles in in Chinese writing for hard of hearing and ENGRISH!!

Now this is the biggest Chinese movie in quite some time. It is produced by Miramax and started filming in August 2001, wrapped up in January 2002 and cost around $30 million, very pricey for a Chinese flick. It stars Jet Li, Tony Leung and Maggie Chueng, who you may or may not remember from the romance “In The Mood for Love”. And of course the ever beautiful Zhang Ziyi of "Crouching Tigger Hidden Dragon" and "Rush Hour 2" fame.

The story is an ancient Chinese tale; it is about the land of China being split into 7 kingdoms, and a legend that all 7 kingdoms could be reunited "under heaven" making China the greatest kingdom on the planet. Of course this causes much conflict; the King of Qin, the largest province, wants to fulfill this legend and sets out to conquer and emcompass the other 6 Kingdoms. This has made him the target of many assasination attempts, most famously by "Sky", "Broken Sword" (Maggie Cheung) and "Flying Snow" (Tony Leung) of the Zhao province, Zhao being the long time rival of Qin. Word reaches The King of Qin that a Qin soldier called "Nameless" (Jet Li) has killed "Sky", "Broken Sword" and "Flying Snow". The King immediately summons "Nameless" to his palace and "Nameless" produces the weapons of the 3 assassins. Astounded how "Nameless" defeated the 3 assassins on his own, one on one, when his vast armies of hundreds couldn't shocks the King and he tells "Nameless" to tell him how. And proclaims Nameless a 'hero' of Qin...but slowly realises that he isn't so different from his 3 victims.

The Tarantino influence is seen in the structure straight out. The story is told in 3 ways. "Nameless'" story, "The King's" story and the "Real" story. This is done beautifully as the colours are varied in each adaption so you can tell them apart and are blended with backgrounds brilliant. There's a great fight between "Nameless" and "Broken Sword" on a lake where "Broken Sword" wears a green kimono that matches the tries and tropical tint of the water brilliantly.

Jet Li's "Nameless" is an orphan who has no name because his parents were killed when he was young and nobody knew his real name. He has studied swordplay for 10 years and is now a remarkable swordsman and resides in the Qin province but his past reveals much more to his character and why the loyal servant standing in the way of the 3 assassins isn't all that he seems. Jet Li has a weird hairstyle going on that looks pretty cool, something along the lines of Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean...but less....crazy. It's like that hairstyle girls do when they tie their hair up and let some of it hang down one side...suits him and the character really well.

There's a great use of a love-story here too between "Broken Sword" and "Flying Snow", and somewhat between "Broken Sword's" protégé "Moon", played by Zhang Ziyi

The movie was billed with having "fight scenes as good as the Matrix", such ambitious aims are only half-met.

Jet Li is quite possibly the greatest Martial Artist of all time, arguably. Now you see…all the fight scenes are sword fights. This is where the film falters; or so you’d think. Then there's the occasions where some of the characters fight "in their minds" and just stand opposite each other eyes closed. Of course we see their mental fight played out like a real one but the whole notion of this is like something out of Dragonball Z. I don't know if it was by design but all the swords, and "Sky's" Spear bends....yes they actually bend when they're fighting. The way it is done suggests they are the old style of sword, which "wobbled" like a sheet of metal. This is unimpressive though. A perfectly good fight scene between "Flying Snow" and "Moon", emotionally charged and pretty cool...until they decide that "Flying Snow" can control the wind and with sword movements 'blows Moon away' so to say. But despite all this, some fight scenes; especially the one between “Sky” and “Nameless” can be enthralling. I must admit the bendy weapons did look pretty off, but the technique used by both actors was very impressive and really kept you into the fight. Where there is actually good technique used, "Hero" decides to borrow the 'flying' from "Crouching Tiger", again detracting from the actual great technique that is being used and prevented myself from getting as engrossed as I could have in the fighting and takes away a lot of credibility from the fights.

The Matrix nod is there in the fight scene between "Nameless" and "Sky" where to two fight in the rain, and the frame rate slows down and we get ‘water-time’. Yup the water blobs are right there as they fight....and there's even a bit where they hit a large drop at each other like a game of pong, I don't know if this was just for eye-candy or to show some kind of superiority with their weapons, but it looks pretty pointless and out of place even if it is well-done.

OK maybe I am a little harsh, the fight scenes do contain some good moments that definitely do push the story along and are very pleasing on the eye; there's a fight scene between "Broken Sword" and "Flying Snow" that is just brilliant...maybe more so for the story that the actual fighting. As I mentioned the "Nameless" and "Broken Sword" fight scene on the lake is the standout fight of the movie, some of the issues I mentioned are raised again, but hey….it’s on a lake!

No doubt the strongest point is the story, brilliantly told, some may get confused, especially if you have to read the subtitles at the same time, I didn't find it a problem at all, but some others did. Brilliantly told in a Rashoman style; the simplest way to put it is:

Nameless: "This is how I did it!"

King: "Bullshit! This is what happened"

Nameless: "Well what done really happened was....."

Well the way it ends I really like. I won't give away the ending because it's brilliantly done, and showcases how the movie turns around and characters change roles from being the bad guy to the good guy.

The music is very similar to "Crouching Tiger.." the main theme seems to be ripped straight off it anyway...and it sounds very much the same, but is beautiful and suits the movie perfectly. And SFX aren't bad but the mass arrow shooting sequences are not very convincing but definitely cannot be called by ‘bad’ by any means. The fight on the lake is brilliantly done though, like I said ‘water-time’ is well done despite it’s only point seeming to be eye candy.

The movie is 1 hr 40 mins long, only on 2 discs because it's a VCD. There's an extended 2hrs+ edition out now as well.

Out August 2004 in America, most likely a PG-13, I recommend anyone who wants a brilliant story with so-so action scenes to go and see this as it is just sublime, Jet Li shows he can act as well as fight, and the main cast is all superb....in particular Tony Leung and Zhang Ziyi. As I said the STORY is the focus....the fight scenes are of course integral to the story but this is more for the fans of Tarantino as the twists and turns are much like his movies.

Rating:
Story: 10/10
Actions Sequences: 6/10
Special FX: 6/10
Acting (averaged): 8/10
Music: 9/10
Overall: 10/10