Another 'Hero' arrives on the screen

When a director releases a successful film there is an expectancy that his follow-up work will be one of equal success. Such is the case with "House of Flying Daggers," directed by Zhang Yimou, the same man who made the poetic masterpiece known as "Hero."\n"House of Flying Daggers" is a Chinese period piece set during the late Tang Dynasty and tells the story of two law enforcement officials, Leo (Andy Lau) and Jin (Takeshi Kaneshiro), who are on a mission to track down a deadly group of assassins. They come across information of a blind dancer named Mei, played by "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" beauty Zhang Ziyi, who is supposedly connected to the assassins, thus the two make it a point to hunt her down for questioning. After successfully capturing the lovely Mei, Jin falls in love with her, helps her escape and from here unfolds a masterfully woven tale of double-crosses and glorious battles.\nWhile topping the standard set by Yimou's previous effort "Hero" would be a hard thing to accomplish, "House of Flying Daggers" acts more like a companion piece instead of trying to raise the bar. The fight choreography is excellent and offers an equal balance of one-on-one duels as well as one-against-many showdowns. The cinematography is also breathtaking to look at and while it isn't done by master Christopher Doyle, newcomer Xiaoding Zhao does an excellent job at capturing the beauty of natural landscapes and ancient structures. \nThe acting is levels above the performances found in "Hero." Zhang Ziyi, who was really underused in Yimou's previous film, echoes her performance found in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" as the female warrior torn between her upbringing and her lover. Andy Lau, whose career boasts over 100 acting roles including the highly-successful "Infernal Affairs" trilogy, turns in a performance that is an amalgamate of all his previous work and yet remains as exciting as all the other roles he has played. However, the best performance hands down goes to Takeshi Kaneshiro, whose character matches that of Ziyi's as he is unable to decide whether love or following orders is the proper path to follow. Kaneshiro shows a whirlwind of emotions throughout the film, each one better than the last, and definitely shines above his two more experienced co-stars. \n"House of Flying Daggers" is another fine example showing that some of the greatest films are coming from across the Pacific these days. The success of "Hero" allowed for Yimou's newest masterpiece to be released in theaters across the country, which goes to show that it isn't necessary to remake Asian films in order to gather an American audience. With the recent news of "House of Flying Daggers" being submitted by China for Oscar consideration for Best Foreign Language Film, one can only hope it picks up the nomination and the win which director Zhang Yimou so rightfully deserved the first time around.