Hero (2002)
Directed by Zhang Yimou
During China's Warring States period, a district prefect arrives at the palace of Qin Shi Huang, claiming to have killed the three assassins who had made an attempt on the king's life three years ago.
7 connections found
View:
7 connections, in both directions
What critics compared Hero to
Last summer's "Hero," starring Jet Li as an assassin locked in unblinking intellectual combat with the king he's come to kill, is an imaginatively allegorical, action-packed but understated, brilliant historical epic (in which Zhang Ziyi plays another assassin's apprentice).
One of the giants of world cinema, Yimou has only recently turned his hand to action/adventure (Flying Daggers is his follow-up to Hero), and he brings more attention to detail and storytelling sense than some of the genre's other practitioners.
Iâm embarrassed to admit Iâve only recently come to appreciate the gorgeous operatics of Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou â Hero was the first of his films Iâd ever seen â but Iâve been cramming him and his 20-year oeuvre (Ju-Dou, Raise the Red Lantern) ever since.
The young actress, of course, stole ''Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" (2000) from Michelle Yeoh and Chow Yun-Fat, and she served as headstrong support in Zhang Yimou's last film, ''Hero" (2002), but she has a full-on romantic lead role here, and she wears it with a quality that can only be described as serene excitability.
The director is Zhang Yimou, who last tried for a big action hit with this summer's "Hero," an opulent production starring Jet Li that some, myself included, saw as an apologia for Mao, surprising coming from Zhang, who'd stood for opposition to the regime in many of his earlier, brilliant pictures, such as "Red Sorghum" and "Raise the Red Lantern."
It crosses whatever cultural boundaries might normally separate American audiences from more serious Asian movies like Hero to create a universally fun viewing experience.
Couple this action with a load of tricky wire work, outrageous CGI that seems straight from a “Roadrunner” cartoon and fight choreography gleaned from “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” and Zhang Yimou’s “Hero” and we get a crowd-pleaser of a movie.
But like Jet Li's "Hero" and Tony Jaa's "Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior," Chow's martial arts comedy fits into the trend of Asian filmmakers aiming to bring fans back to the birthplace of opera-scale martial arts movies.
Director Niki Caro ( North Country , The Zookeeper's Wife ) delivers a Chinese war drama in the vein of Hero and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon .
Not only is Liu the perfect embodiment of the heroine, but the cinematography and action sequences deliver a spectacle that feels reminiscent of 2002's "Hero" and as captivating as "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon."
The action in Mulan is both well-choreographed and shot with enough style and grace reminiscent of the ones seen in the likes of Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) and Zhang Yimou’s Hero (2002).
When barbarians, led by Böri Khan (the terrific Jason Scott Lee of “Dragon”), start attacking towns along The Silk Road, the Emperor (Jet Li, of “Hero”) institutes a draft — one man from every family in the kingdom.
It’s probably no coincidence that Mulan also features three of Yimou’s most notable collaborators: Jet Li squared off against Donnie Yen in Yimou’s 2002 martial arts epic Hero , which became the first Chinese language film to top the North American box office, and Gong Li made eight films with Yimou over the course of her career, including 2006’s Curse of the Golden Flower .
The film also features David Oyelowo ( Selma , A United Kingdom ), Daniel Brühl ( Inglourious Basterds , Rush ) and Zhang Ziyi ( Hero , Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon ) and they're underserved by a woeful script.
Advertisement
However, viewers may wish the entire tech team had decided to make this an art/adventure film, something as visually captivating as Yimou Zhang’s Hero or Ridley Scott’s Prometheus .
No wonder Magnolia Pictures has decided to open it in wide release, despite the Thai language with English subtitles; in the era of "House of Flying Daggers" and "Hero," it's starting to make sense to put these foreign action flicks in the multiplexes.
Jackie Chan was always Mr. Nice Guy, and the recent wire-fu epics (Hero, House of Flying Daggers) are more about grace than gore.
Now even Jet Li, who once disavowed them, agreed to use wires in Hero.
It isn’t that Zhang can’t handle spectacle; “Hero” certainly demonstrated he can—as did his handling of the Beijing Olympic ceremonies in 2008.
Seriously, if you’d wagered me that you could throw a big budget, director Zhang Yimou (“Raise the Red Lantern,” “Hero,””House of Flying Daggers”), screenwriter Tony “Michael Clayton” Gilroy and Matt Damon and Willem Dafoe at a movie and have it come out this silly, I’d have taken that bet.
Zhang Yimou is a Chinese filmmaker whose work which includes the magnificent Hero , House of Flying Daggers, and Curse of the Golden Flower is known for its visual sumptuousness and bold use of bright colors.
The Great Wall is great – as in big – with star-power (Matt Damon and Jing Tian), firepower (it’s directed by Zhang Yimou, who brought us Hero, and House of Flying Daggers), and visual force (it’s in 3D/IMAX).
Each crowd shot in this film is remarkable, but not because director Zhang Yimou ("Hero," " House of Flying Daggers ") and his assistant directors know how to direct extras.