A simple movie with one goal: perfection

Rating: 10/10 (6 June 2004)

This is not a movie about fighting; it is a movie about values, honor, and sacrifice. We see tremendous sacrifice from nearly every character as they journey closer and closer to realizing perfection in their martial arts. Ultimately this journey, and the movie itself, transcend martial arts, and we are left with souls grappling with the question of what, truly, is the highest possible of ideals.
The conclusion that Hero draws may not be fully understood by western audiences, but that only underscores the essential Chinese-ness of this movie.
This is the most breathtakingly beautiful movie I have ever seen, and no movie without Zhang Ziyi in it will ever be able to rival it. In addition to the sublime beauty of miss Zhang, the landscape, the colors, and the imagery are all dazzling.
This movie is flawless in form and structure, order and symmetry, beauty and correctness. This movie gets a 10 -if only to prove, as the movie itself seems to posit, that perfection is humanly attainable.