Hero (2002)

Directed by Zhang Yimou. Starring Jet Li, Chen Daoming, Maggie Cheung, Tony Leung, Zhang Ziyi, Donnie Yen. [PG-13]

Breathtaking imagery dominates this romantic martial arts epic, told mostly through flashback, Rashomon-style, with conflicting accounts of how nameless, enigmatic warrior Li dispatched the three deadliest assassins in the land. He tells the tales in the presence of the ambitious king (Daoming) they had been targeting, who’s not convinced by the stranger’s story (or his motives). Sumptuous costumes/sets and shifting color schemes enhance the balletic grace of the fight scenes, making it an eye-filling journey start to finish. The muddled storytelling and dramatic gestures, however, breed confusion more than awe. It’s easy to get so lost in the dazzling sights that logic and truth cease to even matter before long, but this striking melodrama has the least resonance of Zhang’s wuxia trilogy (followed by House of Flying Daggers and Curse of the Golden Flower). The film’s stunning score, performed by the China Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus, was composed and conducted by Tan Dun.

78/100