Hero
Originally Written: August 2004
Nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2003 Oscars, it’s been a long time coming for this movie to make it to American movie theatres (a movie doesn’t have to have a US release to be nominated for Foreign Film; “Hero” will be eligible for technical and other awards this year). But now, it is finally here courtesy Miramax films and Quentin Tarantino (who is “presenting” the film to American audiences). Was it worth the wait? It’s certainly worth watching. Is it the second coming Miramax has lead us to believe? I don’t know about that. The idea is certainly an good one. Jet Li plays a nameless Chinese Prefect- during a time where China is divided into seven warring providences- who dispatches of three long-time assassins of the King of Qin, the main military superpower of the seven providences, who is trying to unite all seven states under his rule- needless to say, an idea not everyone in the states agrees with. But when he is brought in front of the King for reward, the ruler has some questions about the validity of his story. If the film sounds like “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”-meets-“Rashomon,” the 1950 Akira Kurosawa classic that used flashbacks to create a striking examination of perspective, you would be right. But you would also be short-changing this film to a degree. I’ve never seen any of director Zhang Yimou’s other films (though his Oscar-nominated “Shanghai Triad” has been on my list for a while), but you can tell from this film alone what a startling visual filmmaker he is- the breathtaking cinematography is among the year’s best. What you won’t get from this film is a sense of Yimou as an emotional director. Sure, the movie looks great, and the action surpasses “Crouching Tiger” with over-the-top gusto (you sense “The Matrix Reloaded” and “Revolutions” took some pages from this script’s action ideas), but the story doesn’t really take off emotionally. A little bit, but by the time it happens (near the end), the movie has since become an over-the-top spectacle that- though compelling- starts to become tedious to the point of repetition. Is “Hero” a good film? Unquestionably. Is it disappointing? Alas, it is that as well.
