Movie review of Hero | Teen Ink

Movie review of Hero

March 3, 2011
By Sophiadlt1 PLATINUM, Barcelona, Other
Sophiadlt1 PLATINUM, Barcelona, Other
44 articles 5 photos 0 comments

Favorite Quote:
"You can't stop the future
You can't rewind the past
The only way to learn the secret
...is to press play."
— Jay Asher (Thirteen Reasons Why)


It is clear to me for being an eastern movie, it was rather intriguing and will captures the viewer’s attention. It also gives many ideas on more spiritual ideas, philosophical ideas that the characters and title cards give, and in some way, these things work together to make the movie even more popular than western movies. In my opinion, these factors not only kept the movie interesting for me, but would be able to do the same with many other viewers.

The movie does not only concentrate on the pure fact of fighting, it deals with very intellectual and spiritual things as well that set it apart from other eastern movies in a positive way, the perfect example is when the old servant at the calligraphy school says,“You Must Remember! Strong as the arrows Of Qing may be; though they will shatter Our Cities and destroy Our Nation, they shall Never Extinguish Zhao's Written Word. Today, I Shall Teach You the True Spirit of Our Culture!” (1) This quote clearly proves that not only does the movie have action and a fascinating story line, it also contains some philosophical in sights on life. In this movie they also focus quite a bit on calligraphy. At one point the protagonist ¨Nameless¨(played by Jet Li) must look at the connection between calligraphy and the sword and what these arts can tell about the person wheeling them, in this case Broken Sword (played by Toni Leung). Not only giving the story an edgier perspective but also showing that fighting is not the only thing that you can find in Eastern movies. This movie was nominated for best screenplay by The Hong Kong Film Awards most likely because of the deep ideas within the story. These ideas attract people towards the movie and by making it different, many people decide that is different but in a positive way, and makes it very enjoyable, as did I enjoy it.

This movie was so a huge hit to many viewers and myself that in fact as far as the movie being released and the way it spread through out theaters that even western movies that were a hit can’t compete in some cases. In fact this movie was in a documentary called ¨50 movies to see before you die¨ from 2006 (1). As well as being in a film, it was also nominated for awards such as; a Oscar, a goldn globe, Hong Kong Film award, and 16 other awards, as well as winning 26 other awards(1). Only a movie as fascinating as this one would be able to accomplish so much, especially not being a run of the mill movie that you would find in a western movie theatre. During opening weekend in The United States alone it made $18,004,319 (1) and was screened on 2031 (1)different theatres, therefore this movie was intriguing enough to have quiet an opening, and many people did give the movie a review averaging around 8 stars out of 10. I found the movie particularly gripping just like I found Avatar directed by James Cameron, a very well know director for such movies as Titanic and Terminator. Meanwhile, Hero did have a larger opening weekend than Avatar only making about $4, 007,750 (2)in the United States and was only opened on 812 screens. (2)

I especially found how even the title cards gave great depth to the movie that set the scene and made it clear and enjoyable, however the title cards were also very philosophical and had great depth. “People give up their lives for many reasons. For friendship, for love, for an ideal and people kill for the same reasons... Before China was one great country, it was divided into seven warring states. In the Kingdom of Qin was a ruthless ruler. He had a vision - To unite the land. To put an end, once and for all, to war. It was an idea soaked in the blood of his enemies. In any war there are heroes on both sides...” (1) as said in the title cards. Therefore through out this movie, it still shows great depth even during the title cards. I believe this give the movie a very complex edge and keeps in entertaining and appealing at all times to all kinds of audiences including myself. Once again, the title card gives a great part of the story, however this time it also tells the audience a lot about Eastern culture and their philosophies, once again as said oin the title cards, “The nameless warrior was executed as an assassin but buried as a hero. The King of Qin went on to conquer all of the six Kingdoms and unite the country. As China's first Emperor he completed the Great Wall to protect his subjects. This was more than two thousand years ago. But even now when the Chinese speak of their country They call it Our land.” Even though he had to be murdered for trying to assassinate the Emperor he was still a hero, which in many cultures would to take place. I personally find that learning about new cultures tends to capture my attention and gives the story another point of view which many people might find different however compelling.

Through out the movie i was never bored due to the fact that all the complex components were working at the same time, however i believe it most likely kept it engaging to many different kinds of audiences, from China even to the United States and possibly further.



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