As good as it gets

Rating: 10/10 (23 September 2007)

I have nothing bad to say about 'Hero'. It's the kind of movie that reaches a level that hordes of other movie makers only can dream about achieving. Every single scene is stunningly beautiful. Music, costumes, cinematography & acting is great & the whole experience is as close to perfection as anything human can get.
The basic story is pretty simple. It's set in China around 2000 years ago & tells the legend of some incredible sword fighters who are involved in a plot to kill a warrior king. Still the story evolves in an ingenious way (reminiscent of another Asian masterpiece: Akira Kurosawa's 'Rashomon' from 1950), so we are guaranteed unpredictable development & spectacular fight scenes well beyond the standard Hollywood formula. But more than this, I conceive the film as a dazzling tribute to the amazing power of human imagination and the glorious beauty that we are able to produce through various works of art, whether it's music, calligraphy, sword fighting or movie-making. 'Hero' feels like a celebration of the depth of the human senses & everything that is colorful in this world. It's fascinating to see how director Zhang Yimou manage to merge great action & profound poetry without ever being boring or overly pretentious. I love this movie and rate it 10/10.