A nameless warrior claims to have defeat the three rogue warriors who plotted to assassinate the king of Qin. a series of narrations follow, until the truth is revealed.

Rating: 8/10 (28 September 2005)

for a novice in Wu xia films, i think Zhang Yimou has outdone himself in incorporating visual poetry and traditional Chinese action into one epic scale film. though a lot of critics commented on how 'Hero' seemed like a rip-off of Ang lee's 'Crouching Tiger' movie, there's still much positive things to say about it--like the use of strong colors that is characteristic of Zhang's movies like 'Raise the Red Lantern'. the choice of hues in every part of the movie conveys additional messages that mere acting cannot complete. and though there are, in my point of view, too much action scenes that have little variation from the previous ones, it's still a magnificent succession of performances, considering only two of the actors (Jet Li and Donnie Yen) really know martial arts in real life. and the locations--the remotest parts of china and the breathtakingly large palace built in an equally breathtakingly large movie set--is astonishing, maybe even to someone who lives in the mainland.