Beautiful but a little shallow

Rating: 8/10 (29 December 2004)

There is no doubt this is one of the most stunning films of the year, the color and vibrancy makes it wonderful to watch, however as far storyline goes, I was a little disappointed. It wasn't that I found the plot confusing, though at times it was hard tell which was true and which was not, that was just the way it was intended. I didn't feel anything for the nameless hero he was cold and dry, we saw nothing of his background which maybe was intended, but we also saw nothing of why the assassins would want to kill the King of Qin, there was no images of war or terror, in fact he was the most likable character of the lot. I cared nothing for any of the assassins because I just didn't know them. I didn't see any character development. Nevertheless the action was pretty cool, and the acting was excellent, the king of Qin was powerful yet personal, and the two women played really strong performances.
I can see how some people have said this movie was overly sympathetic to the communist cause, particularly towards the end of the movie, but it is just a different perspective to the unification of China which often isn't emphasized. Peace and unity, unfortunately often comes through war. And while there has been endless comparison to Crouching Tiger, I was thinking more of The Emperor and the Assassin, which showed in much more detail one assassins quest to kill the King of Qin. If you have seen it, you will know what I mean when I say that Hero is lacking in depth and detail.