FanUnity B(uzz)log

I'm not a fan of Chinese cinema. Those Hong Kong action films never really hit the spot for me, including even the more dramatic "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." The whole genre is not my bag. Despite this, I decided to give "Hero" a whirl because it seemed to be something of a historical epic from the commericials, and the historical epic is one of my favorite genres.

The film is the story of a nameless local official in the ancient Chinese kingdom of Qin who is summoned before the King after killing three famous assassins from a rival kingdom who have come within a hair of killing the King in the past. It's one of these stories that starts off with a set of events, and then spins the same events back but shows different layers to them. Starring Jet Li, Maggie Cheung, Zhang Ziyi, Donnie Yen, Tony Leung and Daoming Chen, "Hero" is engrossing.

The wire fighting style of Chinese cinema usually loses me. I realize that all cinema violence is pretty unrealistic. I realize that the wire fighting style is no less realistic than most film fight scenes. I realize that the point is probably to put something more visually poetic on the screen. Typically that doesn't work for me. In "Hero", I'm not as bothered by this as in the other Chinese action films I've seen.

One other element of "Hero" struck me as I watched it. It's a political film. The message of "Hero" is all of China is better off with One China, despite whatever individual hopes and dreams may exist. If I were Taiwanese and not interested in rejoining mainland China, I'm not sure how I would feel about "Hero", even though it is set a long time in the past.

Despite whatever one might think about that political message, the film has a good story, is well-acted and well-shot. Definately worth a look, even for those who aren't usually turned on by Chinese cinema.

3/5 Stars