Dazzling. That’s the best word I can think of to sum up Hero (Ying xiong in the original Chinese, I suppose), the tale of a nameless assassin who confronts the man who is in the process of uniting warring kingdoms into the Chinese Empire.
Jet Li tells the King of Qin the tale of how he, some unknown chief from a tiny village out in nowheresville, defeated the three greatest fighters in all the land. So most of the movie is in flashback, not one of my favorite modes for sure, but in writer/director Yang Zhimou’s hands it works well. If you know what Rashmon style means, that’s sort of what we get here, the same event retold from different angles. Excellent acting/fighting efforts from Maggie Cheung, Zhang Ziyi, Daoming Chen and Tony Leung Chiu Wai.
The story is basic though robust enough to stand up to the repetition, with witty dialog between Li’s Nameless One and the king definitely a plus. The attraction, though, is Zhimou’s combination of gorgeous imagery, changing use of color and brilliantly-choreographed fantasy martial arts battles. I really loved the massive flights of arrows used in a couple of scenes, something I’ve never really seen before.
definitely recommended
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