Hero
Three assassins threaten the kingdom of Qin, specifically the king himself, and a reward has been offered if someone can eliminate them. One man has stepped up to the challenge and has succeeded, bringing with him the assassins' swords as proof of his success. After Nameless (Jet Li) approaches the king, he tells the story of how he defeated Broken Sword (Tony Leung), Flying Snow (Maggie Cheung), and Long Sky (Donnie Yen), but the king (Daoming Chen) is skeptical. What follows is a series of back-and-forth stories until the truth is revealed.

This is a magnificent movie on all fronts. It's an old film that was nominated for an Oscar and a film I watched a long time ago, but only now being released to American theatres. What audiences will be thrilled to see is a high-flying and thrilling Asian film that exceeds expectations, especially considering the above average, but ultimately disappointing, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The film, directed by Zhang Yimou, displays remarkable balance with luscious scenery, beautiful cinematography, intricate swordplay, and good control of the large battle scenes with lots of arrows and lots of real people; none of that CGI we've been accustomed to lately. But most importantly, it's the people that count and while they don't say much, it is their actions that is particuarly telling of their characters. It isn't quite emotional, but nevertheless, still packs quite a punch. 4 stars