The seductive power of deceit, and the importance of the truth in the face of it.
Letting go of private grievance and vendetta for the sake of the public good in a spirit of self-sacrifice.
Allowing a variety of Chinese character actors to bounce off each other in multiple variations on the same scenes and characters, each cleverer than the last.
Laying down a savage bit of genre commentary on both the hyper-idealized and hyper-flawed heroes common to Wuxia.
Rehabilitating an oft-maligned historical figure who is being reassessed in light of new archeological evidence and the observation that his political enemies wrote the history books about him for millennia.
Making a variety of bold, colorful cinematographic choices to fit the mood of the various variations, to great artistic success.
Staging a variety of fantastical fight scenes that, while often overlong, overstylized, and over-the-top, are nonetheless effective eye-candy when they aren't over-using cuts.
Articulating the neigh-universal religious view that hate can't wash away hate, only peace.
Smart, entertaining, and thematically-resonant.
Hero is a movie about many things.
The seductive power of deceit, and the importance of the truth in the face of it.
Letting go of private grievance and vendetta for the sake of the public good in a spirit of self-sacrifice.
Allowing a variety of Chinese character actors to bounce off each other in multiple variations on the same scenes and characters, each cleverer than the last.
Laying down a savage bit of genre commentary on both the hyper-idealized and hyper-flawed heroes common to Wuxia.
Rehabilitating an oft-maligned historical figure who is being reassessed in light of new archeological evidence and the observation that his political enemies wrote the history books about him for millennia.
Making a variety of bold, colorful cinematographic choices to fit the mood of the various variations, to great artistic success.
Staging a variety of fantastical fight scenes that, while often overlong, overstylized, and over-the-top, are nonetheless effective eye-candy when they aren't over-using cuts.
Articulating the neigh-universal religious view that hate can't wash away hate, only peace.
But, most of all, it's a good story about complex-but-sympathetic characters told in a good-old "Rashomon"-Style, and I can't recommend it enough. Even if the English translation never got around to explaining a really obvious question about a major character whose fate is otherwise unrevealed.