Heroism Comes in Many Different Forms.

Rating: Null/10 (27 October 2004)

"Ying Xiong" (translated "Hero") is an outstanding Oriental production by director Yimou Zhang that is everything "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" wanted to be and so much more. In ancient China (where there is a Civil War being fought among six different sections of the nation), just prior to the reign of the country's first emperor, a man (Jet Li) is summoned to the most powerful ruler's (Daoming Chen-King) private quarters after the man has apparently killed the ruler's most feared enemies (Tony Leung Chin Wai, Maggie Cheung and Zhang Ziyi). What follows is a "The Usual Suspects"-styled masterpiece where Li tells one story, then another, then another and so on until it is extremely difficult to learn what the true reality is. Each story is shown in stunning flashbacks where there are amazing martial arts sequences that are each unique in style, concept and cinematic execution. There are numerous combinations with the performers within the flashbacks as each of the key players seems to have air-time separately with one another. Thus we have a wonderfully layered picture where everyone has an equal role and each performer has the opportunity to have at least one character-defining scene. The movie is much deeper and emotional than it might appear on the surface as a love affair between Leung Chiu Wai and Cheung is a constant factor and more importantly the love that all the characters have toward their homeland (even though their loves are sometimes shown in various ways). Li does the best work of his career and Chen matches the intensity step for step. The others are all super as well. The movie has tons of upside as the cinematography, score, art direction, costume design and pacing are all right on target. Visually, this is an unbelievably beautiful work of art that uses old world techniques and new cinematic ideals to get its points across. Special thanks to Quentin Tarantino in bringing this movie to the U.S. mainstream. Not only one of the best films of the year, one of the best ever produced. 4.5 out of 5 stars.