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| HERO. Starring - Jet Li - Tony Leung - Maggie Cheung - Chen Dao Ming - Zhang Zi Yi - Donnie Yen. Director - Zhang Yimou. 2002. At the end of China’s Warring States, the kingdom of Qin stood head and shoulders over the other six states. It’s ruler was a ruthless and ambitious man intent of conquering all. Many attempts were made on the kings’ life but none as yet successful. Amongst the multitude of assassins, three seemed more capable of this than any other. Broken Sword, Flying Snow and Sky. It is with great surprise then that Nameless; a low ranking member of the Qin army achieves the unimaginable and slays all three. He is granted immediate audience with the king who desires to know how their fates have been determined. I bought this movie some time back now but was simply taken aback by how much bad publicity Hero received and unfortunately put it away for a rainy day. I say unfortunately simply because that rainy day came and bestowed upon me a beautiful rainbow at the end of the storm. I know that sounds cheesy but that is how this movie makes you feel. It is a beautiful movie with a fairly simplistic morale underlying things, and it is this attitude that gives you that sense of optimism. What is bizarre then is the fact that to achieve this sense of calm you first have to witness a very fatalistic tale. Told for the most part in flashback but in a similar vein to Akira Kurosawas’ Rashomon. Not all the flashbacks are true, however each one comprises some elements of the truth, which eventually unfold to tell the whole story. It is these events that initially cause some confusion, but you never feel irritated as the story is told at such a perfect pace that you soon begin to realise that not all things are, as they seem. Hero wouldn’t be the movie it is with the story alone though. Perfectly complementing the story throughout is the absolutely beautiful soundtrack impressing upon you the immensity of the characters plight. Add to that the visually stunning locations and the bright lush colours, which also seem to play some influencing part in the flashbacks and we are almost halfway to explaining how good Hero actually is. We haven’t even begun to look into the fantastically worked choreography and the way CGI has been used to subtly enhance these already remarkable wire fights, of which there are plenty. I always rate kung fu movies on the rewind factor and Hero had my remote working overtime. I am however a bit worried about the ‘fights within minds’ concept portrayed in this movie. Kind of like having a real fight but only by thinking about it? I can put up with a lot of things, crippled legless Kung fu masters flying through the air, 7 year old kids pulling up 50 foot high trees and tossing them like darts, Shaolin students who sleep in the headstand position. But I just can’t cope with fighting within minds. Strange I know but it just doesn’t feel right. Imagine lying at home with a very highly sexed partner. She/He demands sex but your answer is simply ‘I know instead of having mad passionate and rampant sex, lets just imagine that we are'? You see what I mean; it just doesn’t make sense. What did make sense though were the actors chosen to undertake the roles. Zhang Yimou has brought together some of the most respected people inside the industry and these alone guaranteed an almost immediate return on the 31 million USD it cost to make. Without going to far into the characters lets just say that they all play their respective roles perfectly with Tony Leung (Broken Sword) and Chen Dao Ming (King) being the ones who shine brightest. I really enjoyed Hero and feel that the slating it has received from certain quarters has been unjust. A movie shot with passion and full of hope and one that any fan of the genre should have in their collections. ‘All under heaven’ 9*********stars. |
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