Hero (2004)

Pros: Jet Li, beautifully shot, underlying themes
Cons: some fighting scenes a little too "sci-fi"

One man seeks to control all of China, and in the process attain power over all of its people. This man is the King of Qin, and he has declared war on the 6 other territories that control China. His vast army is on a conquest to take over everything, ...

Pros: Some beautiful scenery and cinematography
Cons: Some of the action scenes are too broken up

Hero is set during the time of the Chinese emperor who built the Great Wall and united all the different areas of the country. Centuries ago, China was divided into seven different territories and this emperor sought to bring them all together, mostly ...

Pros: Cinematography, symbolism, fight sequences, score, assault on every single one of the senses.
Cons: Unable to cut through the stunning craft so as to empathize viscerally; hard-to-follow narrative.

In Hero, his internationally acclaimed cinematic blend of Hong Kong-styled martial arts films with Kurosawa-like epics, director Zhang Yimou will likely have stupefied American audiences. That the stunningly-filmed and scored "Hero" ...

Pros: lush photography
Cons: long, slow, filled with subtitles

Hero is an amazing film in so many respects, it's hard to begin. The story is a cut above the typical chopsockey film. The wirework is first rate. The cinematography is lush, bold and inspiring. The performances are moving. The only thing that isn't ...

Pros: Story, acting, directing, fight scenes, imagery
Cons: subtitles?

Every negative thing I’ve read about Ying Xiong (a.k.a. Hero) boiled down to it trying to be Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Of course, that would only be the two negative things compared to the eighty positive things… and I must ...

Pros: Visuals are stunning, acting is superb.
Cons: Sub-titles are hard to keep up with.

"In every war there are Hero's on both sides." In the West among the more common folk (and let's face it, the not-so-common folk as well) China and its vast, long, and proud history, remains a mysterious land wrapped in a shroud of uncertainty. ...

Pros: Beautiful. Well done in all aspects.
Cons: Some Americans may have trouble connecting.

Every year as August winds down, ending with it the summer movie season, I get burned out on theatrical releases, having seen most all of the major summer flicks, as well as many independent films. Typically one release resurrects my cinematic spirit, ...

Pros: A deeply philosophical episode in Chinese history beautifully dramatized.
Cons: Some Westerners will find it a tough "read," although they will enjoy the fighting scenes.

This is the first martial-arts movie by director Zhang Yimou, and it cuts its way into 2004’s cinematic lineup with a flash of steel and a heart full of love. Using an all-Chinese cast (remember John Wayne dolled up to play Genghis Khan in "The ...

Pros: AWESOME fight sequences; nice mix of effects and fighting; Jet-Li; haunting music score
Cons: Plots within plots; funky dialogue; feels like an updated version of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Spider-Man 2...check. Collateral...check again. Now what's last on the list...Hero? That's right, the movie Hero is my third highly most anticipated movie of the summer. Spider-Man 2and Collaterallived up ...

Pros: Maggie Cheng; Tony Leung, Zhang Ziyi; Christopher Doyle's astonishing visuals; superb directing
Cons: Story not as strong as visuals; some may sneer this is a "Crouching Tiger" knockoff

Many may dismissively say they saw HERO four years ago...when it was called "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." Don't be fooled. Despite the global success of Ang Lee's martial arts masterpiece, and despite HERO garnering an Oscar nod for foreign film two ...

Pros: Great actors, action, storyline, and direction.
Cons: Few.

I have to give Quentin Tarantino some credit. I know he’s a little obsessed with the “kung fu narrative”. Actually, I thought that his name was associated with this movie because he directed it--silly me!--but in fact he simply ...

Pros: acting, Cinematography
Cons: subtitles

Over 2,000 years ago, what is now China was seven warring kingdoms. The king of Qin is known to be ruthless. He plans to unite all seven kingdoms under one rule. Thus, he has three assassins that are deadly enough to worry him. (Snow, Sky and Broken ...

Pros: Cinema, choreo, music.
Cons: Some cheese, some disinterest.

One of the very worst things that can happen to someone who considers himself a film critic is: seeing a movie, knowing it was good, and not having much of an appreciation for it. This means that he must, by default, recommend the movie to everybody ...

Pros: A martial arts extravaganza, thought-provoking; a spectacle to see; great use of Rashomon.
Cons: Slight drag.

Set back over 2000 years ago in ancient China, the country is in a period of warring states that seems to yield endless suffering. The King of Qin (Chen Dao Ming), however, has the power to unite all of China through one final war. The only force left ...

Pros: storyline, BEAUTIFUL scenes
Cons: Read the review

Before I go on to this review, I realized some very important things from my experience with Hero. So this is my message to you: Do not go to see Hero just to mock it. You are wasting your money. As you know, the director from ...