An action film far better than anything the West can concoct...

Rating: Null/10 (8 November 2004)

Now, when I heard that critics were saying that this film is even better than Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon I imediately thought NO WAY.
My god, was I very, very wrong.
I loved CT,HD. I loved the way it looked, the way it was choreographed, the way the actors delivered their performances, the way it made my soul soar away and wish that I could do the things they could do. Now enters a film that does this all of this, but even better.
I found it quite amusing that there are effects in this film that are almost the same as in The Matrix sequels (moving in slow-mo through the rain and so) and yet this Hero does it even better. In The Matrix I was laughing my arse off. In this I was awe-struck.
This film is intelligent as well. It knows what its message is and it delivers it with clear precision: You have to sacrifice everything for the greater good. The stories told are separated clearly through the clever use of colour coding (red, green, blue and white) so there's little to get confused about at the end, provided that you've paid attention. There is an unhappy truth in this film: those who deal with death and destruction do not generally live. Hence the sad end of the film (my mum, bless her, said that she thought the end was pointless).
Now, for those of you who are going to see this film with a retarded prejudice against all things Chinese, just remember this: Chinese takeaways are far better than pizzas, despite being heavy, oily and goddamn tasty.