A film with sumptuous visual effects that would match Gladiator, but a story told at the rookie level.

Rating: Null/10 (21 December 2002)

The newly released Ying Xiong(or Hero) by the art designer-turned-director Yimou Zhang, has just started its national first round this weekend. With all its successful promotion there will be no doubt that this "swordsman" movie will be a box-office hit throughout China.
However, after seeing the movie, there are places that would remind you of places seen before, i.g. war scenes similar to that of Gladiator, especially the depiction of Qin army makes you think of the Roman legion, and the action part resembles that of the Matrix by the Watchowskis or another Hong Kong production Feng Yun. Above all the story of assassinating the King of Qin was so poorly told that audiences constantly ridicule the lines during the viewing, with only some vague concepts of Peace, Tianxia or the well-being of the whole world, lay down one's life for a just cause and etc. Zhang has again proved his talent and mater of shooting beautiful scenes from tourism attractions around China, but one has to doubt his ability to tell a story let alone skillfully. But it is still worth seeing for its state-of-the-art visual effects and its outstanding cast, Kungfu star Jet Lee, Canne best actor Tony Leung, Venice best actress Maggie Cheung, and Zhang Ziyi from Ang Lee¡¯s Oscar winning Crouching Tiger and Hidden Dragon.