REVIEW:
As a follow-up from the crew (and much of the cast) that brought us "The Storm Riders", "A Man Called Hero" has quite a bit to live up to. Once again, it is a CG filled, comic-based, epic. Following "Storm Riders", it can't exactly be called revolutionary, but as a film itself, it is a great epic tale that even manages to surpass its predecessor in some ways. It has some glaringly obvious flaws, but the end product is still an enjoyable tale that is worthy of sitting in your DVD collection.

When I first saw this film, the first thing that immediately jumped out at me was the cinematography and scenery. The period locales and the way they are captured is quite beautiful. The architecture of early 20th century New York is awe-inspiring here. While I'm no historian to judge the accuracy of this period setting, I can say it certainly comes off quite nice and puts forth the atmosphere it needs to. This sets the tone for the film as we go through and constantly plays into the atmosphere of the story.

The story of A Man Called Hero, itself, is the stuff that epics are made of. A piece that touches on so many issues while bringing it together with the human element is a true rarity. The film portrays the harsh conditions under which early Chinese immigrants in America had to live and work (likely not totally historically accurate, but it does lend the necessary sensitivity to the situation). It also portrays love and the loss of that love. It portrays despair, when one believes all hope is lost. It is easy to appreciate these themes too. After the prophecy that Hero recieves and all the death that has touched those he has loved, one can feel for someone in his position. The use of flashbacks works well to tell a tale over so many years in a sensible manner and the film's plot flows well overall because of it.

There are a lot of characters to deal with here (undoubtedly the result of trying to put an entire comic into a film). The film does a fairly nice job developing the major characters and helping us to understand their feelings and motivations. It also juggles all the characters well enough that viewers won't likely find themselves losing track of who's who. Some of the more minor characters, though, are somewhat rushed. For example, I never got a feel for how Hsu Chi's character fell in love with Hero and why she would follow him years later. While the basic reason for this is shown, it is hard to get a feel for her descent into actual love.

Unfortunately, there is quite a bit of over-acting in the film. Ekin handles the blank expression of a man who has been desensitized by all the sadness around him quite well, but give him a crying scene and it is a bit of a struggle. Nic Tse is solid for most of the film, but also chokes on the emotional scene. Kristy Yang, on the other hand, did solid, though not amazing, throughout the film. And, though a short part, Hsu Chi's very mature role and performance was a breath of fresh air after many of her "bubbly little girl" roles. For that reason alone, I would have liked to have seen more of her character in this film.

The action scenes here are hit-and-miss. There is at least one particularly awesome fight, that being a fight near the middle in an alley when a group of Japanese ninjas attack Hero and Shadow. Special effects are put to good use here, from the blurrily fast movement of Shadow to the CG ropes to CG liquid morphing effects. And, it is not just the special effects. The fight itself is quite exciting, certainly not hurt any by the cool music in the background. Other fights, on the other hand, are fairly boring. A fight between Hero's master and a rival brother uses cool water CG effects, but boils down to them shooting water at each other - nothing more. The final fight, atop the Statue of Liberty, hold a lot of promise but ends up being a blurry mess.

A Man Called Hero comes off as a beautiful epic tale that is plagued by a few obvious problems. Nonetheless, it is a great viewing and definitely a necessity of HK cinema. A little tweaking in the acting and fight scenes, though, and this film would have been quite a few steps closer to true greatness. Luckily, I did see the special cut, which excises a couple scenes that were reportedly laughably bad (that were actually removed because of audience reaction in HK cinemas). It did also remove some scenes near the end involving a skirmish between the police and the KKK. Whether that cut hurt or helped the film, I don't know. But, I don't feel like I'm missing anything (and the uncut version is not available anywhere). So, take a look at this film and look past its few problems and enjoy the memorable tale it has to tell.

REVIEW:
A Man Called Hero is the semi-sequel to The Storm Riders (1998), both of which were based upon a popular Chinese comic book series by Ma Wing Shing. This entry reunites key cast members, several of whom return in new roles.

The film is an overlong mashing of Chinese fantasy storytelling with modern computer effects, mostly set in early 20th century New York. The tale begins in China where Hero Hua's (Ekin Cheng) parents (Chang Pei Pei plays his mother) are murdered for opposing the sale of opium. Hero, a master swordsman gets revenge on all the killers except for Bigot (Elvis Tsui), who joins him on a boat to America. At this point, the narrative jumps eighteen or so years into the future and we're introduced to Hero's son, Sword who has come to America to find his father. As he travels through New York's Chinatown, he learns of his father's exploits from people who knew him.

Returning to the past, Bigot becomes a foreman at a mine operated by underpaid Chinese laborers. Hero comes to work there, but after being framed for the murder of a guard, he escapes to wait for the arrival of his pregnant wife he had left in China. Once together again, trouble arises when a group of elemental ninja arrive. They are the pupils of an an ambitious Japanese master who covets the martial arts secrets Hero's master possesses. This feud leads to a duel between the two elders which results in an apparent stalemate. Hero's master dies from his injuries. This, coupled with the recent death of his wife and kidnapping of his newly born daughter drives Hero into seclusion where he trains in preparation for the eventual rematch with the Japanese.

The story finally returns to the present for the finale as the Japanese master barges into Chinatown looking for Hero who shows up to do battle with him on the Statue of Liberty of all places. Sword's eventual reunion with his father is bittersweet since Hero keeps him at a distance, afraid his bad aura might harm his son.

This film is extremely ambitious and manages to pull off a number of convincing and enjoyable scenes, but too much non-linear storytelling involving too many characters and subplots nearly derails the whole story. The film would have worked better as a television mini-series where there would have been more time to focus on all of the characters. For the layman, it would certainly be difficult to comprehend aspects of the plot such as this whole business about the martial arts secrets which are shown being transferred to Hero as if by magic. More outrageous tricks include outright flying, moving about at lightning speed, and the ability to control the elements.

Visually, the film shares similarities to the likes of Mortal Kombat or Legend of Zu but the action and computer effects are erratic in quality and quantity. The first two-thirds of the film features less action and focuses on the somewhat convoluted story. Towards the end several swordfights are staged that have no relevance to actual martial arts abilities. Its all smoke and mirrors. All of this eye candy looks impressive enough, but cannot top a well staged wire-fu extravaganza such as Dragon Inn. Yuen Biao looks good as usual and gets to show off his skills in at least one good fight early in the film. He even dons Chinese opera gear for an entertaining "rescue" of the miners. Sadly, his role is mostly peripheral. Ekin Cheng is no martial artist, but he does possess some of the austerity which Ti Lung gushed during his Shaw Brothers era. He's also a capable actor, but his character is generally too emotionally detached from the events surrounding him for us to feel much if any apathy.

The final bout on the Statue of Liberty is better staged than a similar scene in X-Men, but the ambitious computer effects are less convincing. More importantly, since little time was spent on developing the lead villain the impact or importance of this final match is weakened significantly.

As a complete film, A Man Called Hero is a disappointment. The story should have been more streamlined and less episodic. There isn't enough quality martial arts action and much of what is present is made up of mostly gimmicky CGI effects. On the other hand, the premise is intriguing as are many elements which beg to be explained further. While The Storm Riders rates a little higher for having a more cohesive story, both films display a strong potential for future Asian fantasy films to come.

Like many recent big-budget HK movies, A Man Called Hero looks great but lacks a heart. There's very little in this film that makes it stand out. This kind of "Hollywood Hong Kong" film-making worked with Lau's The Storm Riders and a few other films, but it's been getting worse each time out. I am now officially sick to death of Ekin Cheng. This guy has to be the worst actor I've ever seen (yes, even worse than Michael Wong) and he makes any film he's in that much more painful to watch. Cheng does okay in roles where he's not expected to do too much (Young and Dangerous 2) but if he has to carry a serious film for any length of time, his lack of skill quickly becomes apparent. One telling scene in A Man Called Hero has Cheng dealing with his wife's death. He's supposed to be crying but it looks more as if he's constipated and trying to squeeze out a turd. Combined with some cheesy old-age makeup (which consists of some spray-painted gray streaks in Cheng's hair), Hero comes off as a clown in the film -- but I wasn't laughing. After the film's premiere, he got the nickname "A Man Called Hair-o" in the Hong Kong tabloids, which suits him just fine. Ekin Cheng got where he is in the Hong Kong movie industry through his good looks, not his talent, and A Man Called Hero is a perfect example of this.

None of the other cast members do a good job, even veterans like Wong and Ng seem to be sleep-walking through their roles, and the young actors in the movie like Nicholas Tse (who plays Hero's son) continually overact and generally just make the movie look even worse. Only Yuen Biao (who puts in a short role that amounts to an extended cameo, mostly to provide the film with its' only taste of real martial arts) and a mysterious martial artist known as Shadow (who is in a Five Venoms-style mask during the entire film, but still manages to display more emotion than the rest of the cast -- for those of you wondering, stuntman/action director Dion Lam plays him while Jordan Chan provides the voice) provide a little spark.

Speaking of martial arts, the fights (which can usually at least somewhat redeem a movie in this genre) featured in A Man Called Hero can't save the film from being mediocre. They're all a big computer-generated mess and/or over in a matter of seconds. One of the film's big "duels" has Ng and Wong literally throwing water at each other, and the duel ending when Ng gets a small cut on his face. These have to be the two wimpiest martial-arts masters ever. The finale on the Statue of Liberty is pretty decent, but it comes off as too little, too late. It's really not worth sitting through 90 minutes of dreck just for one good fight scene. Though in all honesty, A Man Called Hero was a huge hit in Hong Kong (at a time when the local industry needs all the money it can get in the face of growing foreign competition) and a lot of people seem to love the movie, so you may still want to check it out -- but you've been warned.

From the makers of The Storm Riders, this mid blowing FX action film is based on a comic book, like its predecessor. Ekin Cheng is excellent as Hero, the main character of our story. This time around, both Shu Qi and Kristy Yang are radient as the young Ninja Mu and Hero's wife Jade. Nicholas Tse looks like a very young Ekin Cheng in my opinion, and it shows as he plays the young heroic Sword (Nicholas played the young Chan Ho Nam in Young and Dangerous - The Prequel in 1998). Francis Ng is quite psychotic as he plays Invincible with such evil. The special effects are so dazzling, it's obvious to fans that you can't compare this film and Storm. Both are amazing in both action and mind blowing FX. A must see for all HK film fans!!!!

Set in the early twentieth century Ekin Cheng plays Hero Hua a swordsman of some capability who travels to New York leaving behind a pregnant girlfriend. Years later his son also makes the journey to the big apple with the hope of finding his father. The story of his father's battles is then told through flashbacks as the son meets people who came into contact with Hero Hua. It's a lively tale that includes slavery, rival swords masters and ninjas. Father and son are finally reunited but Hua is still not free from the demons of his past. A rival swordsman has tracked him down and demands a duel. This all culminates in a superb display of swordplay and special effects.

This film is far superior to Storm Riders in every way. The story line is much more focused, interesting and easier to follow. The special effects are bigger and better and the fight action has also been much improved with some excellent choreography. Using real martial artists this time, including Ken Lo and Yuen Biao, just makes it look all the more convincing.

There's also some great scenes where martial arts and special effects come together spectacularly, especially in the final showdown which takes place on top of the Statue of Liberty. This film has obviously had loads of money spent on it which shows not only through the effects but also the lavish sets and the number of extras.

A very entertaining movie that's definitely worth a sequel.

Like "The Stormriders" before it, the film is gorgeous and has extremely high production values. For the most part the effects are competent, and quite often spectacular and awe-inspiring. The fighting varies wildly from fair to great, with the Chinese stealing some bad habits from Hollywood concerning fight cinematography and editing. Oddly enough, we've got two great kung fu fighters (Yuen Biao and Ken Lo) in the film, and yet they have little to do. (reinforcing the notion that "what good are traditional martial arts skills compared to someone with special effects on their side?") Yuen Biao does his best Jet Li impersonation, and while it's good to see him in an "A" picture again, he's beginning to look old and tired. Also similar to "The Stormriders", the film doesn't manage to emotionally engage the viewer, although it tries really hard. And that's where the film really falls apart. It's long and boring, and tries to hook the audience with the overwrought melodrama of how hard it is to live in America as a Chinese immigrant. The film really camps on this theme, and as a result it seems to be wrapped up in its own pretentious self importance. Yes, we know life is hard and that it sucks to be born under the Star Of Death - now get on with the fighting. It's an endurance test to sit through the first hour of the film, but it does pay off in the three effects-laden sword fights that occur towards the end.

It is indeed a star-studded cast : Ekin Cheng ("Young And Dangerous") , Shu Qi ("Gorgeous") , Nicholas Tse ("Gen-X Cops") , Francis Ng ("Bullets Over Summer") , Yuen Biao ("Dragons Forever") , Anthony Wong ("Beast Cops") , Elvis Tsui ("Sex And Zen II") and the UK's Jude Poyer ("Hitman") all feature. The film is sumptuously shot by Director Andrew Lau ("Young And Dangerous") and there are more special effects shots than you can count on your fingers and your toes put together.

Sounds like a good film right ? Considering all the talent that was behind as well as in front of the camera and the obviously huge - in Hong Kong terms at least - budget this rates as a major disappointment. There are a lot of positive things that can be said for it but sadly the script (not so much in terms of dialogue but rather in terms of its structure) hangs around the ankle of this film like a ball and chain constantly bringing it down - there is also the matter of the special effects...

I can't say that they are technically bad because they are not - they are very good by Hong Kong standards. How can I put this ? If I didn't know better I'd swear someone had spiked the special effects department's food with some mind-altering substances.

I've nothing against effects heavy pictures when the effects serve their purpose (to aid the telling of the story) but in this case the weight of effects swamps the picture and exacerbates the negative aspects of a less than ideal script. To rip a line from "Jurassic Park" - they were so excited by the idea that they could that they did not stop to think whether they should!

I don't want it to seem like I'm totally down on this film so here are some good points - you get to see a swordfight between Anthony Wong & Francis Ng which isn't something I thought I'd ever see in a film (a gunfight yes but not a swordfight). Also one of the characters wears a mask that looks like it would be equally at home in a Japanese wrestling ring (that's a good point to me anyway).

Before I sign off let me recount to you the silliest moment in the entire film - Hero (Ekin Cheng) meets his son (Nicholas Tse) after a great many years and they have quick chat on a rooftop before Hero flies away to the moon (literally) in a single bound. You have to see this film if only to see that one scene - it is a true unintentional comedy classic. A lot of people liked it (HK$30 million isn't chump change) but I'm sorry to say that for me it had the words "This should have been good but wasn't" written through it like a stick of Blackpool rock!