When I walked in the Cine’ Tuesday night, the lady behind the counter warned me that Hero was in Chinese and had English subtitles. I thought about watching something else, but I was curious if Hero would live up to all the hype it was generating. So, I tried to find the perfect distance away so I could read the subtitles and see what’s going on at the same time. Within thirty minutes of Hero I forgot that there were subtitles at the bottom.

Released on August 27th by Miramax, Hero is the story of ancient China when the country was divided up into seven kingdoms. The Emperor of Qin, one of the kingdoms, wants to unite all of China into country it is today. However, in order to gain the unity he longs for, he slaughters the people through out the neighboring countries. Nameless, played by Jet Li, is a warrior that was orphaned after his parents were killed by the army of Qin. (Note: If your name is Nameless, then are you really nameless?) Nameless arrives in Qin at the emperor’s palace to fulfill his destiny. Watch the movie if you want to know what his destiny is.

Hero is presented by Quentin Tarantino who produced and directed Kill Bill Vol. 1and 2. Some people believe that Tarantino directed this movie, however he only brought it to the United States. Hero was filmed across seas two years ago where it was a huge hit and it has been just as successful in the United States.

Hero has been called another Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon movie. It has much of the same fighting skills and special effects and Zhang Ziyi who stars in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, plays a minor role in Hero. However, the story is completely different and has many twists. By the end of Hero, at least three different version of the plot have been told.

Some people might become frustrated with the subtitles, and some might find it easy to follow along. Some people might find the story hard to follow, and then there will be people who can move easily from one version to the next. No matter if you find Hero hard or easy to follow, everyone should watch this movie to see the wonderful imagery. Hero is like a beautiful masterpiece in motion that everyone should see at least once.