America swooned at the artful martial art scenes in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon four years ago, but Yamou Zhang’s visual masterpiece, Hero, leaves Crouching Tiger hidden in the dust.

In a broken China of ages past, the King of Qin (Daoming Chen) has been continually under threat of three would-be assassins because he seeks to unify the country. Hero soon introduces us to the nameless hero (Jet Li) who has done away with each of these assassins and is now reciting his tale to the king. Much like Kill Bill, Hero’s story consists largely of individual episodes where the nameless hero tracks down and battles each of the threats of the king.

But also, as in Kill Bill, the story takes a back seat to the spectacularly shot action sequences. The whole of Hero is constructed to allow for multiple sword fights, and each is more elegantly filmed than the last. Hero combines the flighty grace of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, the fluid camerawork of The Matrix and the fervent flair of Kill Bill to create a series of duals that surpasses any of the aforementioned classics in terms of visual magnificence.

Each scene is distinct in its setting and color scheme. Highlights of the sword fights include a dark fight in rainfall, a blistering red scene among falling leaves, a palace fight in ribbons of green, and a scene atop the waters of a deep blue lake.

As in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, the regular laws of physics do not apply. This is a legend. These warriors can fly through the air, bounce off the water, and repel a thousand arrows with a single sword. Breaking such natural laws can easily become onerous (as it eventually becomes in the Matrix trilogy), but Hero keeps the approach fresh and magical.

Beyond the stream of beautiful sword bouts is a sincere suggestion that the greatest fight is the one that never occurs in the first place. Hero is one of the few action films that actually succeeds at making a case for peace. Even more amazing is it has the maturity to acknowledge that sometimes war is a necessary means for the creation of peace. But while war may be necessary at times, the film recognizes the laying down of the sword as the greatest form of victory. Hero is as intelligent as it is graceful.

It is certainly an art flick, but the constant action scenes and lush art direction are such that anyone will be able to thoroughly enjoy every moment. It’s also subtitled in Chinese, which means you’ll need to see it twice to make sure you don’t miss a second of the visual bliss. As its title suggests, Hero is a legend that lives in the hearts and minds of those who pass it on – and it’s one that will stay in your heart and mind long after you have left the theater.

Chinese

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