Hero

[Xander Harris]

I honestly didn't like Crouching Tiger, but I loved Hero.

The artistic style of the fights was breathtaking and powerful. And the themes and dillemas presented at the end leave one with a lot to think about. A movie like this would never be made in America. It gives you some interesting insight into the underlying themes of Chinese civillization.

I thought all the acting was top-notch. The actors and actresses did a great job conveying emotion with their eyes, and the facets of their personalities came out in the battles nicely.

I found myself caught up in the emotion of this film. Several times toward the end I almost cried. Brilliant.

I give Hero 4 stars and highly recommend it to everyone.

[Retribution]

I got Hero for DVD this Christmas.

I thought the story was very well written, but some of the battle scenes needed some serious work. I loved how they didn't let you know the truth until the very end of the story, and how different things kept on happening in each lie.

The battle scenes on the whole were mediocre. In my opinion, the worst one was the autumn fight. The color was stunning, but like Dagger already said, it felt too slow to be a fight between two martial arts masters. The wind drove me nuts ... I guess I just wanted them to duke it out without the gusts. The fight between Nameless and Broken Sword on the water was annoying as well. I didn't like how they kept jumping off the water, into the air, and back onto the water. Things got too repetitive. In my opinion, the scene could've been greatly improved by having them running at each other across the water... none of the flying stuff.

On the whole, I enjoyed the movie, but not the ending. *sigh*. I know [spoiler]why he didn't move when the arrows were coming at him, but something inside of me wanted a huge fight. I also didn't like how Broken Sword dropped his sword when he was getting attacked. I know that he did that to show her the alternative to fighting, but I wish it could've been different. I guess I don't like sad endings, even though the ending is 'technically' happy, as China is united.[/spoiler]

Good overall. I give it an [B]8 / 10[/B]

[shivadancing]

[COLOR=Green]Hero was a good movie. I like the colors they used in the film were gorgeous. Also, I love most of the actors in the movie.

Yes, most of the action scenes were kind of slow, but I think that helped show that they were falshbacks--everything happens quickly when Nameless was talking with the emporer.

Also, while I didn't like that Nameless died (or that Flying Snow and Broken Sword did, too), i think that the movie would have been ruined if they hadn't. The emporer had to make an example out of Nameless, or others would have come to kill him too. Also, the way the emporer hesitates shows (to me at least) that he doesn't like killing people.

I like how the emporer understands everything about warriors from Broken Sword's calligraphy. :) [/COLOR]