Lovely scenery, Great women, but not much plot?

Rating: Null/10 (18 January 2004)

Hero certainly deserves all the acclaim it gets for its photography and on location shooting. No wonder it was so expensive to make, and thus also perhaps explains why such an 'epic' seemed quite short.
I loved all the costumes, especially those of the women. Wow, these were really strong female leads, and I praise a director who allow women such expression of strength. They were not just simply beautiful to look at. They had real substance. I loved particularly the red costumes, the absorbtion into nature, and the sophisticated recreation of Chinese cultural artefacts.
Of course the film owes a lot to Crouching Tiger. I think Hero manages to surpass C.T. in its use of landscape surrounds. But I don't think Hero contains quite the moving plot that transpires in C.T. I was quite disappointed at where the Hero 'plots' lead. They actually seem to lead to very little. The 'storyteller' as it were is afterall denounced as a liar. So it seems that the story itself is not the grounds for the film, but the excuse for creating a very poetic and visually stimulating work.
If you love Chinese costume dramas, go for this.