"How swift your sword must be."

Rating: 9/10 (21 October 2006)

When I first saw "Hero" during it's original American theatrical release, I was mesmerized by the brilliant use of color and exceptional cinematography. I've thought about that visually stunning display for a long time, even after forgetting what the actual story was about. I decided to watch it again for the experience, this time finding my interest intrigued by the complexity of the tale. Perhaps intended for the viewer to arrive at his own conclusions, the sequences as recounted by Nameless (Jet Li) and refuted by the King of Qin (Daoming Chen) are nothing less than spectacular, a work of magic by director Yimou Zhang.
In the special features section of the DVD, Zhang relates how he tried for years to find a successful treatment on the history of his subject. Failing, he decided to do the screenplay himself to capture the vision he had of the unification of the warring states. Reading other knowledgeable reviewers' recaps of that history has been enlightening for me, and helps to understand the dichotomy in the motives of the films' principals.
Much like "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", I like to think of this movie not as a martial arts film, but a film with martial arts in it. Both successfully put behind them the era of action Kung Fu flicks that often seem more caricature than believable, more over the top than entertaining. Political and humanistic considerations aside, "Hero" makes for landmark storytelling, handled with deep conviction and reverence by it's creator.