Hero
Was lucky enough to be invited to the gala premiere of "Hero" on Monday, thanks to the kind people at Khabal.com. PLACE YOUR AD HERE! :P
Give Zhang Yimou a big budget, throw in Christopher Doyle as the cinematographer and Maggie Cheung wielding a sword in flowing robes, and the result is a film that is epic, artistic and breath-takingly beautiful. Unfortunately, it also appears too commercialised and fighting scenes look like they are simply trying too hard to impress, with plenty of good choreography and special effects. Not to say that they are unimpressive, however. Donnie Yen wielding a spear is simply magnificent, while most of Jet Li's stunts look like they were done with the deliberate attempt to impress.
Zhang Yimou's signature style is evident, with influences from Red Sorghum (plenty of swishing cloths), Raise the Red Lantern (strong thematic colours) and The Road Home (Zhang Ziyi running, falling down and crying). The scenery chosen for the swordfights are spectacular, albeit rather unnecessary and illogical, but thank God there is no bamboo forest fight like the laughable Crouching Tigger (:P). Maggie Cheung in any show always adds class to it, and Hero is no exception. Maggie probably stands out the best among the entire cast, with impressive Mandarin-speaking skills that will put Crouching Tiger's leading lady to shame (no offense but Michelle Yeoh's accent is so familiar and so Ipoh that it looked really out of place in a period drama). Tony Leung's Mandarin is commendable, although you can still catch some very Canto-sounding phrases peppering the dialogue :P. Zhang Ziyi still acts like a young naive thing with uncontrollable emotions and shaking under the weight of the sword, and screaming her head off during most of the movie.
Overall, I would say Hero is better than Crouching Tiger in many respects, most notably the voice-acting, but will it turn out to be an Oscar sweeper or simply swept under the rug? We'll see...
Was lucky enough to be invited to the gala premiere of "Hero" on Monday, thanks to the kind people at Khabal.com. PLACE YOUR AD HERE! :P
Give Zhang Yimou a big budget, throw in Christopher Doyle as the cinematographer and Maggie Cheung wielding a sword in flowing robes, and the result is a film that is epic, artistic and breath-takingly beautiful. Unfortunately, it also appears too commercialised and fighting scenes look like they are simply trying too hard to impress, with plenty of good choreography and special effects. Not to say that they are unimpressive, however. Donnie Yen wielding a spear is simply magnificent, while most of Jet Li's stunts look like they were done with the deliberate attempt to impress.
Zhang Yimou's signature style is evident, with influences from Red Sorghum (plenty of swishing cloths), Raise the Red Lantern (strong thematic colours) and The Road Home (Zhang Ziyi running, falling down and crying). The scenery chosen for the swordfights are spectacular, albeit rather unnecessary and illogical, but thank God there is no bamboo forest fight like the laughable Crouching Tigger (:P). Maggie Cheung in any show always adds class to it, and Hero is no exception. Maggie probably stands out the best among the entire cast, with impressive Mandarin-speaking skills that will put Crouching Tiger's leading lady to shame (no offense but Michelle Yeoh's accent is so familiar and so Ipoh that it looked really out of place in a period drama). Tony Leung's Mandarin is commendable, although you can still catch some very Canto-sounding phrases peppering the dialogue :P. Zhang Ziyi still acts like a young naive thing with uncontrollable emotions and shaking under the weight of the sword, and screaming her head off during most of the movie.
Overall, I would say Hero is better than Crouching Tiger in many respects, most notably the voice-acting, but will it turn out to be an Oscar sweeper or simply swept under the rug? We'll see...
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