Crouching Tiger meets The Usual Suspects

Rating: 8/10 (17 January 2003)

Superb cinematography, striking base-color costumes, fluid fight/ weapon choreography, exquisite sceneries ..... all at the expense of the plot - which is so thin (in order to deliver the many versions of the same events) that not even the stellar casts could pull it off. To those of us that have some background in Chinese history of the period -the entire story becomes utterly implausible, and the lack of character development rendered the main protagonists two-dimensional (only one actor shines through - the venerable mainland actor Chen whose portrayal of Emperor Tsin is somewhat fleshed out). In my opinion, Zhang YM should return to what he does best - vignettes of peasant lives or family dramas.
Despite incorporating the many breathtaking Chinese landscapes and organizing thousands of army extras into some of the grandest scenes since Ben-Hur, Zhang definitely lacks Tsui Hak's vision of what constitutes a great period Kung-Fu movie (nor did Ang Lee succeed in this genre - CTHD was a novelty to the uninitiated Western audience but largely panned by jaded Asian audiences).
Granted "Hero" was a beautifully-crafted vehicle to showcase Zhang's talents, but what a waste of resources! The film would have been a masterpiece in the hands of someone like Tsui, but now it's only a shadow of the equally inadequate CTHD.
See it for some of the most stunning picture compositions in recent years, ignore the storyline and don't expect anything new in the martial arts scenes.