Review of Hero (2002)

Blogger: Researching and Writing About Film - Create Post This movie review on Hero was written by Anthony Leong on Media Circus. The interesting history of China adds spice to this film's plot. This review discusses the plot of the movie, which took place when the kingdoms in China were fighting over reign of the country until finally China was united into the first dynasty of China. Leong relates the fight of the kindoms to the business world, which is an interesting comparison.
This review discusses the amazing cast of actors and actresses that were involved in this well-acclaimed film. According to Leong,

"...fans of Hong Kong cinema could not ask for a better dream cast."

Hero was nominated for Best Foreign Film Oscar before being released in North America in 2003.

"Hero" vs. "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon"

As we talked about movies that are closely related to "Hero," "Crouching TigerHidden Dragon" was the most talked about. In this article, by Neil Young, it talks about just that, the similarities between these two films. "Though its makers probably won’t welcome the comparison, Hero is bound to be received around the world as ‘Crouching Tiger 2.’" He also talks about the films storyline as well as the color schemes that are seen throughout the movie. A lot of the ideas that were mentioned in class are brought out through this article, so take a look and enjoy!

Hero- Visually stunning

The author of the article, Mike Ward, agrees that Hero is full of color and beautifully crafted together. Hero gives the fighters the ability to "fight with flight." It's an amazing work of choreography and pieced throughout the movie just enough without being overexposed. The Film is comprised of a series of flashbacks with the conversation between the King and Nameless. "Hero strongly relies on its fight scenes as its backbone," says Ward. We can observe that the story is strong and compelling.

Hero

When Hero was released, it was the highest grossing film in China's history. Yimou Zhang uses modern effects to create an awesome "chop-socky" epic with an emotional storyline. According to the author Andrew Wright, Hero is very closely compared to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Hero is special because Zhang embraces each scene with a special Technicolor technique. Unfortunately, there were some problems during the release. Wright states that because of import DVD's and downloadable bootlegs, there is a good chance that anyone interested in this genre will already have a copy. Piracy hurt Hero's box office income.

Review of Hero

This link directs us towards a review by Joshua Tyler. He seems to not really enjoy this movie refering to it as, "...outlandish mythology..." and comparing to "...the cheesiest of Romance novels..." in the United States. Tyler seems to be overly critical of all the details that Zhang Yimou added to create dramatic effect. He reflects on how Hero is to compare with Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, but he states that, " Hero is trying for something a little deeper that in some ways just never connects." The rest of this review continues on this type of criticism with Joshua Tyler pointing out all the flaws, the simplistic plot, and the overall film being an "idealized dream."

Ying xiong (Hero) Review

Johnathan F. Richards reviews Ying xiong [Hero] (2002). Richards comments, "It is China's all-time box office champ." As of yet you can not tell if Richards is in favor of the film. A good reviewer can give you a review of a movie and let you decide whether you like it or not. I encourage you to read the review to see what else Richards has to say about this box office film, Hero.

Ying xiong (2002)

This is a review with some critical elements by Mark R. Leeper at OptOnline.net. Hero turns out to be one of the most expensive films made in China as china tries to expand its influence worldwide. The author talks about the use of colors in the movie, which are dull sometimes and sometimes very contrasting with the actors wearing bright clothes compared to the surrounding. We can see that in the scene when Moon fights with Snow (both wearing red) in a yellowish green set (the color of the leaves). The following quote very much sums up the plot 0f the movie:

"HERO combines the fantasized martial arts of CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN

DRAGON with some of the same history from the under-rated THE EMPEROR

AND THE ASSASSIN. It has neither the rousing adventure of CROUCHING

TIGER nor the historical epic sweep of THE EMPEROR AND THE ASSASSIN.

But the visual style of production designers Huo Ting Xiao and Yi Zhen

Zhou and cinematographer Christopher Doyle makes this one of the most

beautiful films that has been seen on American screens in quite a while."

One thing that was also noticed in the film is the lack of blood which the author believes is due to sensitivity of the audience in China. It is somewhat unrealistic that just a few drops of blood are seen when the fighting sequences are very intense. I believe one more thing that is missing in the film is fire. In the hollywood, we see that fire does play a role either through guns / bombs in action movies or flying arrows / burning villages in historical villages. I was surprised that the Qin soldiers weren't shown burning the villages of their enemies or using arrows of fire, like in Kingdom of Heaven, when China supposedly invented gun powder.

3 Years Later "Hero" Makes It To the U.S.

Jeff Vice, from Deseret Morning News, talks about the release of Hero in the U.S. in his article: 'Hero' finally opening in U.S. after being held for 3 years. He mentions that Hero was originally released in 2001 under the name "Ying xiong" and was nominated for Best Foreign Feature by the Academy Awards. This marks the first martial arts film for director Zhang Yimou .Vice quotes Yimou saying "I am not a martial-arts filmmaker. So I had to convince people to take a chance on me and on the movie." Vice explains how "'Hero' has some things in common with 'Crouching Tiger.'" The both the fight choreographer, Yuen Wo-ping, and the soundtrack composer, Tan Dun, on worked on these two films. He also talks about the challenges Yimou faced when directing his first martial arts film. He admitted that "To make an action film was quite a challenge for [him]." He even got help from Quentin Tarantino.

Three Kings

I found this review by Rob Blackwelder from the website www.contactmusic.com. Blackwelder explains that through this film, Russell "has created a stealthily thought-provoking document that also kicks butt. " Blackwelder then goes on to explain how this movie incorporates more than one genre such as action and comedy. For more information, much more information, click on the link. Enjoy :0) !

Do the Right Thing

This film is directed by Spike Lee. The link includes a brief overview of the movie and the main theme of the movie. This review is very helpful in understanding the plot, characters, setting, and how it ties in with the theme of race and stereotypes. In the review Rumsey Taylor says, "Spike Lee emerged as one of the most important contemporary filmmakers with this film..." he continues and says, "Lee is, however, clearly battling a stereotype and his means is justifiably injected with anger. " This review gives a clear reason why he thinks this way and gives good examples from specific scenes.

Shawshank Redemption

The focus of this review of the film "The Shawshank Redemption" is about the "innocent man in prison" theme. However, this film takes it in a different direction. While most prison films are centered around the yearning to escape from behind bars, this film shows many inmates adapting and accepting their place in prison. There are also example s of the inability of those same inmates to adapt back to the cutoms of society after being in prison for so long. Tragically one man is unable to cope and ends up committing suicide. This "innocent man in prison" theme takes a turn when Andy Dufresne, helps all of the guilty men to better themselves while in prison. He never gives up hope that his innocence will be proven. The presentation of this theme makes the movie one of the best prison movies that I have ever seen.