Hero is a beautiful movie. It really appealed to the photographer in me. It's a wonderful movie to just look at.  But it's more than a pretty face. 

Orphaned as a baby and never given a name, Nameless (Jet Li) becomes a master warrior who has promised to avenge the death of his parents by killing the leader of the Qin (one of the six nations of a pre-unified China). As an accomplished swordsman, Nameless is brought before the king (Daoming Chen) to explain how he killed three of the king's strongest enemies. Nameless recounts his battles with Sky (Donnie Yen), Broken Sword (Tony Leung Chiu Wai) and Flying Snow (Maggie Cheung). But the truth isn't so simple.

Hero is the most expensive film in Chinese history and in watching it is obvious that they spent a great deal of that money to make a visually stunning film. Of course, there are lots of graceful and elegant fight sequences: flying, leaping, walking through water droplets, fighting on the surface of the water. The colors are sumptuous and the cinematography is dazzling. At the beginning of the film, Nameless walks through what had to be thousands of soldiers in formation. The smallness of that one man juxtaposed against the expanse of the army lets us know right away that this is an epic story. 

Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung Chiu Wai are excellent as a pair of warriors/lovers bound together in life and in death. Their passion is compelling and complicated; they have a connection that made them easy to watch. Li and Chen are also very good. The warrior and the king play an interesting game of psychological chess as one tries to figure out the motives of the other.

I didn't know what to expect really with Hero. I was pleasantly surprised. If you decide to see it, make sure to take your glasses because it does have subtitles.