Not a 'Hero' quality story but worth a watch

It is completely pounded into the viewer that Kaneshiro's character is a womanizing "Playboy". Then you must convince yourself to drop what you have learned about the character when he falls in love after 3 days with Zhangs character. Other than the character flip-flops and odd twists, this is a beautiful movie. Bottom line: rent this movie and go buy 'Hero'.

Formula Chinese martial artz flick

Let's see now, what is the difference between "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," and this film? Anything? I think the Chinese have figured out how to sell films to Western audiences, and they are sticking to a proven formula. I, for one, am of the school that thinks "One is enough," and want to see something a little bit different besides daggers that somersault through the air with the accuracy of heat-seeking missiles. Or warriors boogeying across the tops of bamboo stalks. Or a blind girl whipping the hineys of twenty warriors. Strains the ol' credibility, ya know?

Besides which, the formula Asian plot scenario where BOTH LOVERS DIE AT THE END is getting just a "wee" bit old, ya know?

Tell me that the Chinese reached a 1.2 billion population by having the man and woman die prior to copulation and procreation. Yeah, right. Can you hear Charles Darwin snickering in his crypt?

Still, there are positives to this movie, which I watched to the very end (a compliment). It's very artsy and I like the shots of the countryside. The producer has an eye for what is beautiful. An interesting, if not particularly relevant observation is that the female lead is deficient in melanonin to the extent that she could pass for Caucasian, which gives insight into current Asiatic preferences. This may explain current immigration patterns.

"Romeo & Juliet" meets "Kung Fu Theatre"?

What do you get when you cross a slightly hokey Chinese martial arts movie with a tragic love story? You get "House of Flying Daggers." The story is built around three main characters, with the plot loosely sketched as follows. In 9th century China, the Tang Dynasty is rife with corruption and cronyism, all at the expense of the common folk. This gives rise to a secret insurrection called the House of Flying Daggers, whose trademark, not surprisingly, is the use of razor-sharp knives thrown with incredible skill and precision. The Flying Daggers take on essentially a Robin Hood role, i.e., the classic "rob from the rich, give to the poor" scenario.

Understandably, the Imperial government isn't keen on all this, so its forces are unleashed in a concerted effort to quell the insurrection. One of the government "cops" is Jin, who is captain Leo's top man. Government troops recently killed the leader of the Daggers, but a new one has stepped in. Leo wants to know who it is, so he assigns Jin to go undercover to find out. Jin's assignment is Mei, the rapturously beautiful, but blind, daughter of the former leader. Jin's task is to gain Mei's confidence by rescuing her from police custody, feigning sympathy and allegiance to the Daggers, and following her back to their lair with government troops under Leo's command following at a discreet distance.

After battling their way past government troops in a series of increasingly deadly encounters, Mei and Jin finally make their way to the Daggers' hideout. Along the way, the romantic energy begins to build between them (how unpredictable!) Even more unpredictable, though, is a plot twist that exposes the existence of a hitherto unexpected love triangle, which ultimately will cost the life of ... I'm not telling. Watch it for yourself to find out.

Generally speaking this is your typical Chinese martial arts movie, complete with lame dialogue, a thin plot line, and bad dubbing. The fight sequences are very well done in most instances (especially the one with the soldiers in the bamboo forest), but there are several instances where the action is too obviously choreographed. I also wonder whether maybe the costume designer ought to be flogged for overexuberance. On the plus side, the camera work and special effects are top notch, and the skill of the martial artists is obvious (except for the occasional Jet Li-esque use of hidden wires). The ending was a bit corny, but had enough emotional intensity to compensate.

In short, this one is more of a love story in Chinese garb than a true action movie. Still, there's plenty of butt-kicking for the guys to like it, and enough of a chick-flick element for the women, so this actually may have broader appeal than many of its forbears. Try it, you may like it. If not, you're only out a few bucks for the video rental.