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Movie Review - Hero (2004)
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(What this rating means)
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| Director: |
Yimou Zhang |
| Starring: |
Jet Li (largest pores ever - oh, those close-ups are scary), Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Maggie Cheung,
Ziyi Zhang (most elaborate facial expressions EVER), Daoming Chen |
| Rated: |
PG-13 |
| Length: |
96 minutes |
| Genre: |
Action/Romance |
| Tagline: |
This land doesn't know a real hero. Yet. |
| Studio: |
Edko Films Ltd |
| Website: |
Hero |
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PLOT
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Before China was united into a great Empire, it was just several smaller, warring states. The king of Qin (Chen)
vowed to conquer the other states and unite the people into one country. However, three great warriors have vowed
to assassinate him, and since their first attempt three years ago, no one is allowed within 100 paces of him.
So when Jet Li, a nameless (actually, his name is Nameless) orphan who has risen to the rank of Prefect over a small
town (the lowest office in the land), defeats all three of those great warriors, he is summoned to the palace for an
audience with the King of Qin. You see, the people of Qin have been holding out for a hero, one who's gotta be
strong, gotta be fast, gotta be dressed for the fight, and Nameless was all of those things.
What follows is the story of how he defeated each of these three warriors, told in flashbacks (and a flashback
within a flashback in one scene), but is all as it seems? A highly stylized martial arts film in the tradition of
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon ensues.
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MS. CALI'S TAKE
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Other than singing "Holding Out for a Hero" all day, I had no real expectations for this movie. I was not the
least bit interested. I had also mistakenly been told this was a story about the history of Japan, not China,
so there was that. I was happily surprised by this film.
Hero uses color and setting to tell the story as much as the dialogue and narration of the scenes, and that
is where this movie is the strongest. The color and choreography of each scene fit the emotion of the scene
better than any other movie I've ever seen.
While the fight scenes are great (probably better than CT,HD), they rely too much on the impossible flying
maneuvers made popular by CT,HD. I realize this all the rage in Chinese filmmaking these days, but it's no
longer original, and the movie could have been made just as well, if not better, without it. To me, it
distracted from the rest of the fighting. There was even one scene where they ran across the treetops in a
blatant CT,HD rip-off.
The story was secondary to the fight scenes, but still well-told. From what I've heard, this is based on
the legend of the first Emperor of China, but I'm too lazy to verify that information. Maybe Johnny will be
nice and do some research for me. Otherwise, you'll just have to figure it out for yourself. However, it
SHOULD be a true story, one that has grown into legendary proportions with the passing of time, like Johnny
Appleseed, or Johnny Betts.
Johnny Betts: My research shows that the King of Qin was
indeed a historical figure who became China's first emperor. He also oversaw the construction of the Great
Wall of China. However, I haven't been able to confirm any occurrences of people running through
treetops.
If you're expecting a movie with lots of mindless fighting that you don't have to pay attention to, you'll
probably want to avoid this film. Not only is the story important, it's all subtitled, so you have to pay
attention or you'll miss something. But it's not a long movie, and the subtitles are not at all difficult
to follow. Also, if you're expecting a lot of gory, violent action (after all, this film is presented to
us by Quentin Tarantino), you are mistaken. While there is a lot of fighting, it's highly stylized, almost
surreal in some parts, and very little blood is actually shown. In fact, there are only three parts in the
movie that show any blood at all, and even then it's used sparingly to get the point across only.
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ODDS & ENDS
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- Ziyi Zhang was in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
- Jet Li was not. Neither was any of the rest of the main cast.
- Ms. Cali thinks flying through the tree tops would be a cool way to travel.
- Random six degrees of Josh Brolin: Ziyi Zhang was in Rush Hour 2 with Jackie Chan, who was in Shanghai
Knights with Owen Wilson, who was in Zoolander with Billy Zane, who was in Pocahontas II
(voice) with Gregg Rainwater, whose spaghetti arms were in The Young Riders with Josh Brolin who
was in The Hollow Man with Kevin Bacon.
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MAMA'S APPROVAL
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There's not really a lot here to offend, as the action is more choreography than violent. There is one scene
of sexuality, but nothing too graphic. There was a young child, no more than four or five, on our row, and to
that child's parents I say, "If your kid's feet can't touch the floor, then get a babysitter or STAY HOME YOU
SELFISH MORONS!" Seriously, people, this is not a movie for the kids. If their feet can reach, they can
probably handle it though.
Johnny Betts: If their feet can't reach, then the theater door
the child shall not breach. Thank you, thank you.
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TRAILER COMPARISON
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The trailer didn't really give me any clue as to whether or not I'd like this movie, and it certainly did
not warn me about the subtitles. There's more to this movie than the trailer suggests.
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THE GIST
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Hero is a highly stylized, visually stunning movie in the same genre as Crouching Tiger, Hidden
Dragon. While it does rely a bit too much on the same visual effects of CT,HD, it's definitely a film to
be appreciated on its own merit.
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