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House of Flying Daggers has received critical acclaim from the majority of the media, and yet for me it fell short of the four star mark it's been awarded. Sure, it had many elements of a great movie: action, suspense, plot twists, drama, striking landscape and scenery, color and light used to stimulate the soul, and computer enhancement to make the impossible possible. With all that though, there must be compelling characters to back it up. All the actors performed well, but the twists and turns of the plot muddled the story and made the characters ill-defined. Their motivations, sincerity and intentions being unknown is a key part of the movie, yet when their facade is broken, it's hard to tell what they really feel or think. The martial arts aspect of the movie is great, though not entirely a major part of the story. There is plenty of it, strategically placed throughout.
All of this has been done before in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and the Quentin Tarantno produced "Hero". Crouching's love story, and the relationship between the two protagonists was wonderful, and Hero's use of color and intense imagery are to date the most impressive. Both of these movies also displayed superior choreography and action/fighting sequences. "HFD" is directed by Zhang Zimou, who also directed Hero, and while there are many similarities between the two movies, such as imagery and pacing, Hero is definitely the better of the two. Coincidentally, the very cute Zhang Ziyi is in all three of these movies.
This movie was not bad, and I didn't feel cheated when the credits rolled. Seeing it on a big screen definitely adds to the experience, though I wouldn't necessarily say that you had to see it at the theater and not just rent it a few months later.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon................... * * * * four stars
Hero....................................................... * * * three stars
House of Flying Daggers............................ * * 1/2 two and a half stars
More to come, Yano fans! Have a great weekend!
Posted by Sam at January 8, 2005 12:33 PMCorrection, Tarantino presented "Hero". Hero was released in Asia long before he placed his name on the movie, but Miramax was just too chicken to release it in US theaters. After the success of Kill Bill, Tarantino's name was a way for Hero to be marketed... didn't they learn from Crouching Tiger that there is a market for this stuff?
I agree about Flying Daggers... beautiful scenes, but the plot was lacking.
Posted by: Mike on January 9, 2005 02:16 AMSaw the movie on DVD..As ususal, the actions scens are awesome...although it did get a little boring in the end...
Posted by: Rick E on January 9, 2005 04:40 PMSaw the movie on DVD..As ususal, the actions scenes are awesome...although it did get a little boring in the end...
Posted by: Rick E on January 9, 2005 04:40 PMThanks for the correction, Mike. I saw Finding Neverland this weekend, and enjoyed it much more than HFD. Maybe another review is ensuing.
Posted by: Sam on January 9, 2005 07:15 PM
