Ugh...I typed a really long entry yesterday, but it was TOO LONG!!! So now everything's gone. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. Anyway, I guess I wanna give my review of Hero here. Ying Han absolutely loved it...she kept gushing and gushing about it even after lunch...yes, she likes it THAT much. In her words, "it captures the essence of Chinese culture" and something about stunning graphics. Okay, I like the movie, but there are some things about it that disturb me. For one, the movie definitely lacks depth. This is probably due to the many different narratives, which doesn't really allow the story to develop, but instead confuses the average movie-goer. Ironically, it is the plethora of different narratives that intrigue me. I absolutely love films or books which show you how all truth is relative, depending on the perspective held. Okay....obviously, the graphics are magnificent. I don't think anyone wants to dispute that, but there were some scenes which were reminiscient of the Lord of the Rings: the Two Towers, like the bunch or rather SEA...maybe even OCEAN of Chinese troops...aren't they kinda like Saruman's evil army? Plus, the arrows are so erm Legolas?? At the end, there's even this scene where the emperor is kinda given advice to kill Nameless, like how the king of Rowan is misled by his evil advisor. Okay...enough comparisons with LOTR! Anyway, the movie does get to the point, or points, eventually...but it is only at the very end. You get this whole bunch of stuff about how swordsmanship at its highest level, is about...erm, not having the sword at all (yeah, big HUH??!!). Also, the big big theme is how violence for a greater purpose i.e. the unification of China can be justified. I so totally do NOT agree with this. Violence is violence and it's bad, period. Like as if "war for peace" really makes sense...ugh...but then egos always get in the way. Everyone wants to be THE leader. I'm getting carried away here but okay, the main point I wanna make is that it's kinda sad that Mr Controversial Film-maker Zhang Yimou is actually condoning the the actions of Qin Shi Huang! Ugh. Okay, maybe that guy was some kinda genius and admittedly, he had to be...I mean how else can you unify the entire China right? But he was a "the ends justify the means" kinda guy, which made him awfully cruel. C'mon, he killed like really smart pple and even his most trusted advisor. Doesn't it say something? Oh well, this movie, though kinda 2-D in it's finality, does make me think, about whether the message it's sending is really the right one. But who knows? Maybe this is really what Zhang Yimou is trying to do...challenge us to have a different opinion? I don't know...