Its style is much like that of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." And its story structure is much like that of "Rashomon." Yet "Hero" seems very original, very different from any movie — martial arts or otherwise — that we've seen for quite a while.
It's got a meditative, contemplative quality, which is not something you normally associate with the action genre. Which is not to suggest that it's action-deficient. This film has some of the more astonishing scenes of individual combat in recent memory, even rivaling the superhero action sequences in "Spider-Man 2."
This period piece (based on ancient Chinese legends) features a stellar cast of veterans from various Hong Kong cinema and martial-arts hits. Jet Li stars as a nameless warrior (his character is actually known as Nameless), a sword-fighting master and the prefect of Lan Mun province.
Nameless has been summoned to appear before the King of Qin (Chen Daoming), a warlord who is trying to conquer all of China's six kingdoms and whose ambitions make him the target of assassination attempts.
Speaking of assassins, three of them — Sky (Donnie Yen), Broken Sword (Tony Leung) and Flying Snow (Maggie Cheung) — have been thorns in his side. But Nameless claims to have defeated them, and the king wants to hear about the strategies and techniques he used to best three warriors who seemed unbeatable.
This material is a departure for Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou, better known for low-key character pieces, such as 2001's "The Road Home" (the star of that film, Zhang Ziyi, has a small but crucial supporting role here).
As strong as the film is, perhaps its one failing is that it's not as emotionally resonant as "Crouching Tiger." It has style to spare, using different color "palettes" to differentiate chapters of the film and to establish tone.
And smartly, Zhang doesn't require anything more of Li than sheer physicality (his acting range is limited). Equally smart was the re-teaming of "In the Mood for Love" stars Leung and Cheung, whose chemistry makes their characters' longings believable.
"Hero" is rated PG-13 for scenes of martial-arts violence (sword fighting, combat and arrow fire), brief gore, a brief sex scene (mostly overheard), and brief glimpses of partial male nudity. Running time: 96 minutes.
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