Parody-like, but darker...

Rating: Null/10 (25 March 2003)

I found Hero incredibly hilarious. I might ignore its kinship to Crouching Tiger, but it's clearly going for the same niche. Yet the whole film is executed far more cheesily. I KNOW the pithy little phrases of dialogue are supposed to be deep, but jeez, it just doesn't feel it.
Yes the film looks good, and there's some kung fu. But I've seen many more films which have passed this level of simplicity - i.e. they're more fun, or are more savvy regarding genre, etc.
And the whole film seems to lack character. I know the cinematography is 'good', but I might not have guessed that it was by Chris Doyle had it not said so (I just watched this after seeing Happy Together, which made Hero look sterilised in comparison). This is reinforced by some lacklustre performances where the actors just look like they don't want to say all those lines emoting sacrifice, etc. Zhang Yi Yi looks like she's just wandered in from the wrong set, and Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung act as if their trying to make their own Wong Kar Wai film - without Wong Kar Wai's guidance (it's not helped when Maggie Cheung appears in the same clothes as Ashes Of Time). The result is that things stay around 'parody' level - but without the fun. Only Jet Li seems to end up not looking silly.
Then the film tries to reach for profundity, which results in the film changing from being merely unintentionally funny to leaving a bad taste in your mouth, if you are in anyway politically aware. Zhang Yimou leaves absolutely no leeway for interpretation: we're fed the 'under heaven' line to excuse the atrocities of the Emperor - as if he is forced by his people to do the 'right' thing for stability - i.e. kill and crush dissent. A parallel with recent Chinese history is impossible to ignore. What was Zhang Yimou thinking of?