Beautifully shot but slightly unsatisfying...

Rating: 6/10 (8 January 2005)

Anyone seen Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon? Great film. Anyone seen Hero? Not so great. Not bad, but not as good. Probably worth a viewing, but slightly disappointing. The following review will tell you why.
Hero is told as a story, basically about a sword. Sequence after sequence explains what has happened in the life of Nameless (Jet Li). This film is shot beautifully, with perhaps the best cinematography ever. Despite this, it feels slightly unsatisfying whilst being viewed. There is nothing particularly wrong with Yimou Zhang's effort, it just isn't great. And definitely not as good as it should have been. When looking at the poster advertising the film, it looks brilliant. But when watching it you'll find it's not as great. Bizarre really, not for any real particular reason, just not great. Hmmm.
Overall: *** out of ***** (3 out of 5)