burntcopper | House of Flying Daggers

Saw. Pretty, good fight scenes, but pretty much unimpressed. Just... no pizzazz and way of keeping you interested. Hero had it's repetitive trope faults, but in Hero you did not almost doze off twice. I was in a mediumly attended performance, and you do not get casual viewers at a subtitled martial arts film, and I saw this happen to several people after I jerked awake once. 'Yes she's pretty, yes there's probably some sublime... ah, whatever. Do we care? Get on with something interesting, please.' Maybe it's a cultural thing, but reviews I got from other people at work who'd been to see it were 'borrrrring'. The point where it actually got most boring was second-last scene, when things started being revealed. The photography is gorgeous, if lacking some of the iconic imagery of Hero. The fight scenes are great. It's just seriously lacking in certain places, and you do get rather tired of Zhang Ziyi looking doll-like perfect, and realise you actually like her better when she's displaying emotion and acting like a spoilt brat, as she does in Crouching Tiger and partially in Hero, rather than an ethereal doll with no facial expressions.

My view? Go see it if you want, just be prepared for being intensely bored in places.