Ok this is for the folks who want to know what I think about Hero in all its lurid detail.

Ok first off the bad stuff. It's a bit slow and the pacing is uneven. Too many gratuitous slow-mo shots. Some fights are just window dressing but do nothing to advance the movie.

OK Gooooood stuff.

Jet is quite a stone cold *beep* in this movie - for most part he's unmovable and unflappable, even when they strip search him in the beginning (yes ladies, you heard me write, JET'S NAKED BACK ha ha). But he does have his moments like the sly way he looks at Tony when his remarks to create jealousy hit home or the incomprehension in his voice when he questions Tony's relunctance to kill the Emperor. I think Zhang Yimou could have tried to bring out more of that subtle characterisation. As always though, Jet really shines in the fights and he has quite a few good ones. The fight with Donnie is short but quite thrilling and it was very satisfying seeing Jet do some magic with the sword. Another of my favourite scenes sees him deflecting arrows outside a calligraphy school - beautiful hard core graceful wushu stuff. His skirmish with Zhang Ziyi in the library is also chock full of cool moves and really lovely to watch. Then there's Jet splitting a paintbrush, Jet splitting water....well I could go on and on.

The other fights are quite memorable too and there a couple that I liked particularly. One takes place in a yellow forest between Zhang Ziyi and Maggie Cheung. What a scene that was. Maggie is a virtual typhoon in that fight - untouchable, unflappable, unbeatable. And the other is the fight between Tony and The Emperor - both come off very professional and that was something very natural about the way the 2 duelled. The fight atop a gorgeous lake unfortunately did nothing for me. I found it unecessary.

The special effects were very well done - it was very awe-inspiring seeing the droves of arrows swooping though the sky like killer bees. Then there are others like the way the candles flicker in front of the Emeror, a library full of falling paint-brushes which are guranteed to induce a "kewl" from the mouths of the susceptible.

Chen Daoming as the Emperor is a real pleasure - sly and egomanical at one point, anguished and principled in another. His Qin Shihuang is a man of razor sharp intelligence and carries an unseen burden. And I found it very touching and tragic that Maggie's character in the end, never fully comprehended Tony's aversion to killing the Emperor even when he died for that purpose.


OK MAJOR ENDING SPOILER HERE - YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!


But the best thing about this movie, (at least IMHO) came during the last couple of minutes in the movie. When Jet reveals to the Emperor that he can kill him in 10 paces (the distance that now separates the 2). There is a quiet but audiable gasp from the Emperor, but he eventually decides to put his life in Jet's hands, so moved is he by Tony's relunctance to kill him and Jet's hesitation. And when Jet spares his life, he tells the Emperor "Unify China but no more conquering. Remember the blood you have spilled and the lives you have taken." Chen Daoming's geniune expression of amazement that once again he has cheated death was wonderful. And later when his officials exort him to execute Jet that amazement turns to anguish - ironically, the Emperor is bound to a higher power, the law of his country and his people. His dilemna is further magnified because in an earlier scene, he laments how none of his officials understand him (and in the tragic end, they still don't). For some reason, the scene reminded me of the scene in the Bible where Pontius Pilate desparately wanted to let Jesus go but the crowd kept shouting "Crucify him!" - well that scene has the same emotional resonance. And I will remember Jet's expression and form as the rain of arrows came down on him for a long time.

All I know is that whatever misgivings I had about the movie in the earlier 90 minutes, vanished in that instance. And oh, and I think I teared a bit in the end too