Rating: 
Summary: Enteraining Hero
Review: A Man Called Hero doesn't stack up to Storm Riders, no. But that's not a bad thing.This movie has more plot than an entire bookstore. Sometimes that means that threads are dropped, explanations are not given, and characters are not developed. However . . . who cares? This quick-moving plot is intricate and great fun -- so much going on that you will *never* be bored. Historical accuracy? Weeeeell, great turn of the century New York sets, but somehow the notion of traveling from China to Manhattan and then reaching the mines of the West rather quickly doesn't quite work, and Ekin Cheng's hair (though a favorite of this female viewer's) would definitely have attracted attention, particularly when he was wanted. But, who cares? Great characters (who the viewer actually comes to care about), and that wonderful swordfight on the Statue of Liberty. A talented armless martial artist, a sweet and low-key gay relationship, and the protagonist's relationships with his wife, his son, the female ninja who falls for him, and yet his utter aloneness. (BTW, anyone who's wondering if Ekin Cheng can act? Check out Tokyo Raiders and you'll see he can handle very different roles.) It's fun, there are lots of very different action scenes, and it's definitely rewatchable. If you don't have preconceptions, you ought to have a great time. My major frustration is that it is so clearly an "origins of" story and without access to the Chinese comic books, I'll never know what Hero does next.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome! Matrix my ass! =)
Review: A Man Called Hero was the bomb of CGI movies! Well it would've got 5 stars except The Stormriders (same crew who made this movie) took it away! My friends all shrugged me off when I said this is one of the movies that would refrain you from watching The Matrix. Man, they didn't even see this movie yet! SFX is great except for some fake looking parts at the ending, story is sad and I guess was meant that way. Ekin Cheng is my favorite HK movie hero along with Nicholas Tse (Ekin's son in th movie)! Plus the finale battle is intensely climatic (man those guys save the best fight for the last). I love CGI battles and this is one of the best, second only to The Stormriders! Check it out!
Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly Good!
Review: After seeing Storm Riders for the first time. I wasn't very anxious to see "Man called Hero". Storm Riders was good mind you,
but seeing it on VHS and dubbed made it unappealing. After seeing a man called Hero on DVD, I was definitely surprised how good it was, the special effects was cutting edge (for Hong Kong movies) and it literally kept me on the edge of my seat. Ekin Cheng does an excellent job as Hero Hua. The movie left some questions unanswered. But what the hell, it was extremely entertaining.
Rating: 
Summary: Nice try, but a disappointing failure
Review: As "cute" as Nicholas Tse and Ekin Cheng might be, even their "pretty" faces couldn't save this film. "A Man Called Hero" (the prequel to top-grossing movie in HK cinematic history, "Storm Riders") was a disappointment. After watching the first half, one can't even bring himself/herself to justice by finishing the second half. Although the movie does have potential with a nice love story, an attempt of flashbacks and kung-fu completely ruined the movie. Don't get "A Man Called Hero." Instead, get "The Storm Riders." - Priscilla
Rating: 
Summary: CG + Love
Review: Entirely dependent on computer graphics (CG) as the lead Ekin Cheng lacks Martial Arts skill. It really is nothing more than a love story, with some Street Fighter II characters thrown in. The movie leaves you guessing as to how Ekin got his powers. However, you may have been inclined to focus solely on Hsiu Chi.
Rating:
Summary: Heroic effort...
Review: Following the success of Storm Riders, Andrew Lau and his crew return in the visually stunning but choppy A MAN CALLED HERO. It was made in half the time Storm Riders took - and it becomes painfully obvious when you try to understand what's going on. Don't get me wrong, I loved the movie, but hell... It tried to do way too many things at once. There's a great deal of characters, subplots, and confusing flashbacks (the editing could've used work). The first half of the movie is also quite slow. But dammit, forget the story and watch the actors and special effects. Ekin Ching does a good job of protraying Hero and Bad guy Francis Ng is excellent as usual (he's such a badass). The surprising role was in Shu Qi - who is usually protrayed as a ditzy, young, immature, and spunky girl (Storm Riders and Gorgeous). Here, she plays a serious and quiet (!) Japanese Ninja who becomes emotionally involved with Hero (although the movie never develops this point... in fact, the movie never really develops anything at all). Overall the movie has an impressive cast - although it's kinda funny to watch the Japanese roles given to Chinese actors. Yuen Biao is also present with a very small part. Special effects are excellent, although I'm not sure how to compare it with Storm Riders. The climatic fight has a little bit of corniness and is sped up to the point of being unrealistic. When Francis Ng calls Ekin Ching and his voice zooms through the entire city of New York, I tripped out. Never in my life have I seen such a concept on film. Other great moments belong to the sword fight in the rain and the run in with Hero and the Japanese Ninjas (although the outfits were silly). In the end I was wondering what the hell I just watch and tried to make sense of the story... After a while I realized that it didn't matter - it was fun to watch and I was very satisfied with the effort put into this production. I'll be waiting for the sequel - for now, this Special Cut DVD was worth the money.
Rating: 
Summary: A Total Disappointment
Review: For action film, I personally focus on 3 components, which are plot, action sequence and acting. Plot=1.5 (on a scale of 0-5)
The orginal comic book offers plenty of stories to make its movie version exciting, not to mention the many sophisticated lines of dialogs. For the movie, there is only one single story line. And it does not make sense in some important parts of the story. For example, how can anyone let the "evil foreman" to even get physically close to Hero's wife when she was givin birth to the twin and let him kidnap one of the children. Secondly, there are simply too many subplots (still along the same story line) that the screenwriter (or whoever was responsible) wanted to "jam" in, which makes those who did not read the comic book have a difficult time following what is going on. Given that the movie is more than 2 hour long, the director did an extreme poor job in developing the characters, a component so crucial in the success of the original comic book series. Action Sequence=1.5 (on a scale of 0-5)
Even though Cheng E. Kit and the rest of the young actors lack the martial arts or acrobatic trainings of Jet Li or Jackie Chan, the director should at least recruit the help from action choreographer/director like that in Crouching Tiger and Hidden Dragon to make up for the inadequacy. What seems to me is the producer used computer generated effects to substitute for good, hard-core, action choreography for its own sake rather than to use it to enhance the portrayal of the characters or to add favor or excitment to the plot. What was said by the other viewers were completely true; each of the fight scenes only lasted for 2 seconds. Moreover, Hero is famous for his "Limitless Palm" (excuse my translation) in the original comic book series. There is no mentioning of it in the movie. The only scene that may have shown it is when Hero created a explosion when the cowboys were running toward him in the later part of the movie. "Limitless Palm" is supposed to be an art that gives the power of an extraordinary physical thrust (in physics term). An explosion like that of TNT is simply a poor portrayal. Given that the orginal comic book offers copious supply of beautiful kung fu moves of Hero and other characters, the movie adaptation is a complete disappointment. Acting=2.0 (On a scale of 0-5)
The only good aspect about this movie is that Ekin Cheng does look like Hero in the comic book. Other than that, the acting or the directing is extremely poor. At the scene where Hero's wife died, I could not really tell if Cheng was crying or he was just grimacing. In short, Hong Kong's entertainment industry has cultured a shallow taste among its audience in a way that "a collection of pretty faces"="good ticket selling power". Unlike its Hollywood counterpart, older and more seasoned actors/actresses have a very deminished role in any new movie. The "pretty face" phenomenon may well bring in good profit from the young Asian crowd; however, it, together with poor plot/acting and action sequence will simply give Hong Kong movies and their audience (given that it's the top selling movie in 1999) a bad reputation worldwide.
Rating:
Summary: good entertainment
Review: Having finally seen "A Man Called Hero" after reading endless debate as to its entertainment value, I must say that overall, it was an enjoyable film. Granted there were enough flaws to fill a black hole, but it still had some excellent production values. As Andrew Lau's follow-up to "Stormriders," it's hard to not to make any comparisons when many of the cast and crew worked on both movies. While the special effects didn't break any new ground, the situations were more far-fetched and befitting a comic book. As the movie was made from another comic book by Ma Wing Shing (I haven't read any of them), it had more of a comic book feel. That is both its strength and weakness. The pacing was more fluid by sacrificing characters, reducing them stereotypes. Thankfully there was less brooding from the main characters than in "Stormriders." Good guys were all morally righteous and the bad guys were all venal and heinous, except for Hsu Chi, who was spared by Hero during one of the fights between Hero and the Japanese ninjas. The stereotyping of the "foreigners" was particularly painful, due to the black and white depictions and the contrived plot. The narrative technique of using flashbacks to tell the story grew tiresome quickly. What saved the movie was the pacing and the interspersed action sequences, but shortchanging the characters into cardboard cut-outs. Regardless, it's always good to see Yuen Biao, as limited as his role was in this outing. The finale duel at the Statue of Liberty is totally outrageous, but it doesn't measure up to the fight where Hero and Shadow go against the Japanese ninjas. Although it's apparent that the actors are in front of a blue or green screen, you soon forget when the action goes overboard. "A Man Called Hero" is something that you can watch during a lazy Saturday or Sunday matinee, when you don't want to strain your brain and can suspend your disbelief with more abandon. The surprising roles were filled by Ken Lo and Francis Ng. Ken Lo seems to have broken out of his bad-guy image of being only a bruiser, playing a monk in this flick (he must have a better agent these days because he seems to be in a lot more than just Jackie Chan movies), and Francis Ng, becasue I always notice that he's left-handed (strange way of identification, I know), and that he has become more of an actor and less of a snarling reactionist. Ekin Cheng appears to have only one expression: stolid and emotionless. He's gotta do something with his hair and the same coif in all his movies. The "Young and Dangerous" look is way over. The opening credits with the comic book-inspired background images were great.
Rating:
Summary: Great Special Effects, highlight this movie
Review: Having seen the Storm Riders, I was in high-anticipation of viewing this film. CGI/computer-generated special effects are now prevalent in films from all over. Are the effects enough to justify the purchase of this film? Beyond the effects, there is a descent main plot. However, the film suffers from sub-plots that end too suddenly. In addition, the main story ends, to be continued in a sequel. While this is not surprising, I felt that the movie ended abruptly. It may sound confusing, but if you watch "A Man Called Hero", you'll understand. With the growing popularity of CGI, I hope that moviemakers will still maintain some credible fight choreagraphy within the sequence. Luckily, this movie has some of the most eye-opening effects reminiscent of "The Matrix". Definitely worth a view, and I would recommend a purchase.
Rating:
Summary: Great Special Effects, Love that Ekin!
Review: Hero is a man born under an unlucky star with a terrible fortune: (Everyone close to Hero will die an unnatural death). After an assassin kills his family, Hero must flee to America to start over. Traveling to New York to begin his new life, Hero (Ekin Cheng) is taken to work at a mine. Along the way, he befriends a Buddhist monk, who admires his devotion and sense of honor. Falsely accused of murder at the camp, Hero is forced to flee yet again. When Hero discovers his wife, Jade, has also come to China town, Hero risks all to be with her... With some unforeseen consequences. "A Man Called Hero" has some excellent special effects, martial arts fans will enjoy. For instance: there is a scene where Hero and the villian are battling on top of the Statue of Liberty which was really breathtaking. There were also several really cool scenes where Hero is battling in the city as well. What really prevented me from giving this movie a five star rating was the choppy plot, and the way it was narrated. Half of the movie is told in 'real time' and the other half seems to be relayed by Hero's friend Shadow. The movie jumps from present to past, without much sense, and this was distracting. Also, the plot seemed to meander a bit, with Hero just taking what life dished out, and never doing much of anything. On the good side, Ekin Cheng was absolutely WONDERFUL as Hero, lending the role the fire it needed to breath life into an otherwise cardboard stiff character. With some editing and a decent script, I'd give this movie five stars!
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