Lumbering propaganda piece Hero is of high interest if you like colour-coded interior design or CGI madness involving arrows. Otherwise it’s gorgeous cobblers, a waste of five or six great pop videos. The portentious narrative style may be an acquired taste, but to me – no veteran of martial arts films – it seemed awfully laboured. The fighting itself? Pretty good, as you’d expect, but the slo-mo direction seemed an odd choice given that the fighting – and the plot – hinges on who’s fastest (cue lots of expository dialogue, “How swift your sword is”). And for almost every fight the film had helpfully told us who wins in advance, which reduced the tension ever so slightly. Ravishing costumes, lovely cinematography and several unintentionally hilarious moments provide some relief in a grindingly slow film. Not recommended.