Propagandistic tripe

Rating: 1/10 (28 August 2004)

Like so much of Chinese cinema, "Hero" is a dull trudge through an absurdist, politically-motivated fantasy of ancient China. The action scenes are typical Chinese-styled indulgent impossibilities of both physics and entertainment and the entire goal of this film (which contains less illuminating dialogue than can fill a scene, let alone this ponderous attempt at a movie) is a shameless retelling of the attempt on the life of the hated first emperor of China.
The representation of Shi Huang Di is especially ridiculous. Portrayed as a strong, upright individual whose goal is the "noble" unification of what was to become China, he bears no resemblance whatsoever to the picture history paints of the first Qin emperor. An insane and overbearing legalist who was so unloved by his court that an assassin was allowed to make an attempt on his life without the slightest intervention from the attending mass of courtiers who supposedly owed him allegiance, he was thoroughly despised throughout the ages following the end of his brief dynasty. Contrary to this undisputed consensus on the first emperor is his portrayal as a man who stands up to his would-be assassin and engages in a farcical pseudo-philosophical debate which further alienates the discerning viewer.
I was ashamed to see Quentin Tarantino associate himself with this pathetic piece. None of his films are baldfaced attempts at revisionist history whose sole goal is the unashamed glorification of a nation's manufactured past. Not to mention that string tricks have long outstayed their welcome.