More commonly known as "The House of Flying Daggers" in the U.S., this movie is sure to amaze fans of both "Crouching Tiger" and "Hero."
The movie is set during the Tang dynasty while the current government is struggling against a secret clan known as "The House of Flying Daggers." Mei, a blind dancer, is suspected of being a member, so Captain Leo assigns one of his men, Jin, to befriend her and help her escape from the police capitivity, in hopes of learning the location and identity of the Flying Dagger's new leader. Of course, in their three day trek across China, Jin and Mei fall in love, but not everything is as it seems...
And it would ruin the movie if I told you all of them, but one of them seemed obvious to me. Let's just say that blind warriors are more of a Japanese thing. Anyway, the love story aspect is the typical lovers from different sides fall in love, nothing too original. And aside from some plot hiccups, like how long someone can live with a dagger in their chest, the story flows smoothly.
Some of these hiccups may have been from the rewites made when veteran actor Anita Mui died, and director Yimou Zhang decided to remove her character rather than replace her with another actor.
Anyways, despite any flaws that the movie has, it has plenty of action sequences that are all beautifully choreographed. The only thing more distracting is the breathtaking locations that this film was shot at. Actors Takeshi Kaneshiro and Ziyi Zhang bring their characters to life with great passion. Andy Lau's Leo didn't seem to be as developed as the others, but he's also not in the movie as much.
While this movie may be nothing totally new, its witty banter and enthralling battle scenes elevates it higher than "Hero." B
No comments:
Post a Comment