Definitely not zero but has its flaws

Rating: 8/10 (25 September 2010)

I like this film - I liked it the first time I saw it and watching again on DVD has not diminished my enthusiasm.
Firstly the positives. The film is beautifully filmed and steeped in Chinese history. The visual feast at times is stupendous and the set pieces are meticulously put together. The acting is top rate, the plot intriguing and the films sad yet triumphant end caps off a fine and engaging piece of cinema.
So why not a ten? This film, like Crouching Tiger (over-rated bore fest) and House of Flying Daggers (will that women ever die at the end?) is just too stylised for me. As soon as I see Jet Li and his compatriots flying through the air and skipping off lakes I start to switch off. Whilst these films are fantasy offerings, and whilst the action sequences are well filmed, they are of course ridiculous. And that is its biggest flaw.
Frankly the film, along with the others, just doesn't need these ridiculous artistic fantasy pieces to work. Hero plays out incredibly well on its own merits, with Li, dominating the film throughout. The fight scenes, rich cinematic content and evocative storyline is more than enough. The fantasy elements are almost comic book in comparison.
Hero could quite easily have been a masterpiece if the director had backed away from the fantasy and put this film out as a historical epic.
Not zero, but Hero? Not quite...