Another Great Zhang YiMou Film

Rating: 10/10 (2 July 2004)

Many of Zhang Yi Mou's films are artistic in their portrayal of often very simple messages. While the plot of Hero is intriguing and even sometimes confusing (seeing it twice or three times clarifies), Zhang keeps the message to a point and still places heavy emphasis on creating beauty. Like a masterful artist, he relies on a wide range of media to create his masterpiece: from simple dialogue (two words in the end) to majestic scenes (of rocky desert mostly) and (quite simply) a lot of color. Some of his other films such as The Road Home and Red Sorghum also share these similarities.
Hero pushes a very simple idea and yet takes a very intricate path of telling it. Never is any scene overly emotional, nor is any scene forced. Although many scenes are seemingly repeated, they are never the same and sometimes seem to contradict what already happened. Most people I know who have seen this movie felt it was confusing the first time around. Once they saw it twice, they all agreed that the movie flows flawlessly until the end.
Hero also has one of the greatest soundtracks of any Zhang movie, rivaling that of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon's Soundtrack. Dun Tan lends his skills to the soundtracks of both movies. While the two OST's cannot be directly compared, I would prefer listening to the OST of Hero anyday.
Overall Score: 10/10 - No complaints here