Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

I first watched Hero when I was 15 years old. Back then, I was only interested in it because I expected fancy martial arts like all other teenage kids. So obviously, I slept through most parts of the movie and didn't even get the story. Fast forward 15 years later, and I can't believe this movie was made in 2002. The plot, the effects, the actors, amazing. Now I re-watch it after every 2 months or so. Hero is a masterpiece that just gets better as you grow older.

This is my second Chinese movie that I've ever watched even when I have been living in China for 12 years. First of all, I thought that all the Chinese movies weren't as good as American or Korean. Also the first movie that I watched didn't really go well, and it was boring. However, this movie impressed me a lot. I've watched this movie in school for film class. At first, I was not expecting anything because I didn't really like Chinese movie. However, as I watched all the movie, cinematography started to impress me. The story was kind of weird (I guess that's the reason why I couldn't give 10) but the cinematography grabbed my attention and started to make me enjoy the movie more. I think this movie have lots of graphic and lots of unrealistic scenes, but the back ground and cinematography is great. Those two factor saved this movie, without those two, I think this movie was not that great.

it was a great movie after all. although I have seen a lot of Chinese movies but this one of the most well delivered message movie. I loved how they pull on those different colors to indicates all different scenes. it was very fresh and new. they all did a good job of being "ancient" and reveals their own characters in their unique own way. I can see a lot of meanings that the director puts in. I think this movie should be put into a modern scene too, it would be such a good way to show all the Chinese culture in this kind of amazing way. I really liked the movie and I wish I can see some of this kind great movie in the future.

I'm the first to admit that I'm not a big fan of wire work. Used very sparingly in the occasional fight scene – so you stand up and think "woah!" – I can live with it. But in the likes of this film and CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON, the action choreographers always see fit to dispense with the laws of physics and deliver up battles where the opponents soar through the skies, perform impossible manoeuvres in mid-air, and get up to all manner of airborne mischief. I don't mind when there's a reason for the wire work in the film – for instance, SHAOLIN SOCCER used it for laughs and was great; THE MATRIX had a sci-fi premise so I could live with that. But it's my belief that these historical epics would do much better by keeping their actors' feet firmly on the ground. Firstly, it would enhance realism, and secondly, it would enable the participants to get on with the actual fighting, rather than their ballet-style trying-to-look-good antics.HERO's fight scenes are interminable. I'll agree that they are beautifully shot, with the emphasis on lots of bright and vivid colour contrasts, and accompanied by effective 'ringing metal' and screaming sound effects, but at their heart they are hollow, taking place with no rhyme or reason; a lot of the fighters turn out not to be enemies after all, and other fights take place purely in the minds of their opponents. The trouble with this is there's nobody to root for; hell, even in those low budget kung fu flicks of the 1970s, at least the martial arts kid had a reason for fighting the bad guys; they killed a family member, or somesuch nonsense. In HERO, we get silly battles where the characters jump in the tree tops and skim across the surface of a lake. Sure, it's very pretty, but there's no reason for it.The plot is more interesting, in that it's a simple take on the old RASHOMON story of having one tale narrated by multiple characters. Things do get pretty murky and confusing, but they straighten themselves out for the climax, which adds an epic and historical angle to the proceedings that'll make you think "aaah!". The film's strength lies in the depiction of the Chinese army, made up of 18000 extras; the soldiers here are more impressive than those CGI guys in TROY! Their method of firing arrows is also very entertaining and the film's best scene has an attack of thousands of arrows soaring through the sky as Jet Li attempts to beat them off. There's also a cool arrow bit at the end which reminded me of G.I. SAMURAI but I don't want to go there too much.Jet Li famously returned to Hong Kong for this film, but he's unfortunately wasted in the role, which could have been played by anyone. He doesn't get an opportunity to act, just to partake in some wire work tomfoolery, and he's barely in the film. Unfortunately, greater prominence is given to unimportant secondary characters like that played by Tony Leung, who is utterly boring – and it doesn't help that I keep remembering the awful GORGEOUS every time I see his face! The best performance comes from an almost ethereal Maggie Cheung, who I thought had vanished into the woodwork since her Jackie Chan days in the 1980s; how wrong was I! This ageless actress may not be a born fighter but her acting is great and a real strength of the movie. She throws the work of the wooden Ziyi Zhang into sharp relief, revealing the latter actress to be nothing but a one-dimensional impostor.HERO deserves kudos for cinematography and sound effects alone. The unusual method of storytelling keeps it interesting, and it's just a shame that the action is so lacking in… bite. Had the film offered more meaty battles, it might have been one to watch over and over again; as it is, it works more as a passing curiosity than anything else.