Movies

Another Asian dynasty piece; this one set in Japan. The government is corrupt and weak, there exists a group, in this Japanese tale of Robin Hood that robs from the rich and gives to the poor. Yes, they actually use those words.

Nick and I saw this on Saturday and as we got out, the first words out of his mouth were, "I liked Hero better." It was a rather difficult realization for him to learn that he prefers Communist propaganda to a good love story with crazy special effects. My comment to him was simply that House of Flying Daggers had what Hero did not: over the top fight scenes. Take out the use of the daggers themselves and you may have a toss up. To me the story is secondary in the live action anime flicks. In Hero the story was everything. In House of Flying Daggers the story was important, but was well supported with crazy moves of which no one is actually capable.

The House of Flying Daggers was the poetic, yet literal, name for this adaptation of Robin Hood and his Merry Men. Each member of the seemingly large group was trained to use a small pouch of daggers with deadly accuracy. This on top of the fact that apparently every single person in Japan knows several forms of martial arts makes for some deadly company.

There were some exciting plot twists...and some I could have done without. The movie did drag on a little too long, but it could have been worse. If nothing else it allowed for a few last minute special effects. If you like martial arts movies and can put up with subtitles, check out House of Flying Daggers.

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One thing that I did like was how they ended the movie, on a broad scale. The love triangle fight to the death I could have done without, but one thing made sense to me as the credits ran. Nick made a point with which I could only agree in saying that he wanted to see the epic battle which was underway. We were both curious as to what Nia's plan was to stop the government troops. Then this idea popped into my head. As Mei let Jin walk away from the House of Flying Daggers he stopped and pleaded she go with him. He told her that there was a battle waiting to happen and they as individuals were unimportant. He said they were only pawns on a chessboard. I think the choice was made to show the tragic conclusion of their lives as opposed to the battle scene was to suggest Jin was wrong. Sure there is a huge battle going on and many lives will be lost, however, we are going to focus our attention on three lives in particular. Right now you are what is important. Do no sell yourself short...and all that.

Just one man's thoughts I guess.