My favorite moment.

Rating: 8/10 (3 October 2005)

There are a lot of things about this movie that I liked and many things that I didn't like. The cinematography was nothing less than breath taking, though the plot left something to be desired.
After all was said and done, I had one favorite moment (although it sort of happened twice): when Broken Sword closed his eyes during his fight with the king. You could tell he had read his opponent and knew exactly what to do to kill him. But he also knew exactly whether or not he should kill him, because he suddenly understood his opponent (like Seraph says in The Matrix). This master swordsman was so good that he was able to think clearest in the moments where for anyone else training would have taken over and driven home the killing blow. And the director/editor/actor delivered that message so clearly and beautifully.
The other time this happened was what I believe was in some ways the most significant moment in the movie. I didn't even get it until watching the movie a second time. When Broken Sword let his sword fall instead of defending himself from Flying Snow's attack. I say this is sort of the same thing because he again consciously overrode his training and made a better decision. The reason I say this might be the most significant moment in the movie is that it punctuates what Nameless just said to the king about the greatest choice a swordsman can make is to lay down his sword. Broken Sword is the real Hero of this film.