A Chinese movie that's equal to a Hollywood in grandeur for us was this movie, Hero. It was our first time to watch one as grand and very epic-ky with Jet Li in the lead.
Usually we write in a plot or a synopsis on the movies we watch and review but this time we won't. We want you to watch this one, period. This movie is uncharacteristic of a Chinese movie, maybe just the Kung-Fu stunts, but other than that we were blown away with the story telling.
Although it was just a narration between the Emperor and our Hero, the lines and discussion was essential to the story that we were glued to our seats watching this. Aside from their conversation, the fight scenes were nicely done and choreographed. With a huge budget allotted for this film, money was not spared in production design and costumes.
They also splurged on who's who in Chinese cinema particularly of the martial arts genre. Aside from Jet Li, we have Tony Leung, Maggie Cheung, Donnie Yen and Zhang Ziyi. Talk about a stellar casting this alone will make you want to watch this movie.
With a film like this, we really had an awakening on the Chinese movie industry.
We can place this movie alongside the other films we love like, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (the first movie) and the House of Flying Daggers. So if you like an action movie with a neck deep story line, get hold a copy of this movie.
