rating:
(out of
4 stars)China, Hong Kong; 2002
Directed by Yimou Zhang; produced by Bill Kong, Yimou Zhang; written by Feng Li, Bin Wang, Yimou Zhang
Starring Toshirô Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Yôko Tsukasa, Isuzu Yamada, Daisuke Katô, Seizaburô Kawazu
Below you will find a temporary review for this film. The real (better, more complete) review will be online very soon.
I expected something very much like 'Wo Hu Cang Long' ('Crouching Tiger,
Hidden Dragon') before watching it. I loved that movie and fortunately I was
not disappointed. It was not as good as 'Crouching Tiger' but it was
definitely a good movie. The martial art is as good, the music is as
beautiful and the actors may be even better. More comparisons can be made.
The heroes have no clue of something called gravity (not meant to be a bad
thing), we have a fighting sequence in and around trees, a sequence where
people walk on water, there is Zhang Ziyi in a supporting role, it is spoken
in Mandarin and I saw a love scene set in the desert.
Then why is 'Crouching Tiger' the better movie? Probably because the story
is a little better and because of the fact that 'Hero' goes a little far
sometimes. Things don't make any sense. May be it looks even a little better
but in some scenes that doesn't matter. There is a scene where Zhang Ziyi
and another big star Maggie Cheung are fighting in beautiful red dresses or
something like that. Leafs are floating in the air while they fight. You
have to see for yourself what I mean. It looks so beautiful but it just
doesn't make any sense. And there is a scene where Jet Li and Tony Leung are
fighting on the surface of the water. Again it looks great but in the end of
that fight Jet Li suddenly starts to act a little crazy, splashing around
water and everything. I think it was not supposed to be funny but I laughed
a little. Those sequences sometimes were a bit overdone.
These are just small things, they really don't matter that much. The acting takes makes sure those small flaws are easy to forget. Jet Li as the hero proves he is still a good actor and he shows us that this is the kind of movie he needs. Zhang Ziyi is in a supporting role, and so is Donnie Yen who plays an assassin and a great swordsman. The best performances are by Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung as two other assassins. I loved them in 'In the Mood for Love' together and it felt a little like they finished some business they started in that movie. I hope to see more from them. A pretty good direction, beautiful music, a nice photography, the greatest Asian stars together and some fine looking martial art fighting make this a movie to enjoy.