HERO-Getting by on Looks Alone

Carla Meyer, a chronicle movie writer, wrote an article for the San Francisco Chronicle titled, "The martial-arts movie 'Hero' kicks butt, but it's also beautiful. In director Zhang Yimou's latest, an ambitious royal epic, color is king." Meyer explains how this film is very different from other martial arts films that we are used to through its use of vibrant colors. The colors illustrated throughout the film tell a story in themselves. For example, the crimson color of the calligraphy instructor's robe and the headmistress' robe matches the ink of the calligraphy, which is shown in sensual scenes of the film. The crimson color illustrates the connection between the characters throughout the film. There exists a hot, sexual relationship between them; however, the fire that burns among them soon begins to die out.

Meyer also talks about the technical parts of the film. She explains how the director never goes overboard with the visual effects. Rather than including a computer generated form of an army of soldiers in the fight scene towards the end of the film, the director places an army composed of real people to give the scene a realistic effect.

Finally, Meyer describes the unnecessary bloodshed scenes in the film. At some points of the film, there are people fighting and killing each other for no apparent reason, or at least ones that the audience finds hard to follow. However, Meyer mentions that these points of the film work in a more ideological perspective, proposing a new idea of heroism, "...one in which dying for a lost cause is just as noble as killing for a winning one" (Meyer 1). Perhaps becoming a hero does not necessarily involve winning for a cause, but rather fighting for something that will be clear in the end.

The Hero sends the wrong message to its viewers

I am providing a link to an article titled, "Hero, a distortion of history," which is written by Sophia Beach. It was found on the China Digital Times website.
This article discusses the political message depicted in the film. Beach criticizes the film by suggesting that the film displayed a more "politically correct," version of Chinese history. To a certain extent she feels the film is insulting the history of China and claims that it depicts the idea that the emperor was the most heroic of them all; yet, this notion was from the reality of the situation. Beach also quotes The New Republic Review to strengthen her argument.
Here is a quote that sums up the article

Director Zhang provides a revisionist reworking of history that is an insult to the collective intelligence of historians