During my ventures into foreign cinema, I have taken a liking to a wide variety of movies that span different genres that include horror, action, drama, comedy, and romance, to name a few. Thus, I have enjoyed the thoughtful, serious tone of dramas as well as the mindless, popcorn fun of action films. With a wide array of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean movies under my belt, I am confident in my ability to recognize bright spots in movies to appreciate and complement. Unfortunately, A Man Called Hero has nothing to recognize. It is by far the worst Chinese movie I have ever seen.<br /><br />Why, you ask? Quite simply, this film contributes nothing memorable whatsoever. It tries its hand at drama and action, but fails miserably at both. With regards to the dramatic element, it's boring beyond recognition. By boring I do not simply mean slow-paced, as I have enjoyed movies that are remarkably slow-paced, yet keep the viewer's interest. No, that's not what I mean. I mean that this movie is slow-paced AS WELL AS extremely boring. I was literally fighting sleepiness throughout the first half of the movie.<br /><br />In succeeding to avoid falling asleep, I was rewarded with quite possibly the WORST action sequences ever filmed. In fact, I would not even classify such scenes as "action sequences" because the concept of "action" demands that someone actually DO something. They don't. Instead they stand still (facing each other), wave a hand or two, and shoot little balls of light that knock their opponents out. This isn't action; this is stupid. And for those who may feel that I am close-minded and therefore unable to appreciate different forms of action sequences, let it be noted that I found the sequences in Onmyoji – which use incantations and spell-casting – to be MUCH more entertaining than anything in A Man Called Hero. To top it all off, the final confrontation was perhaps the most absurd attempt at "action" that I can remember witnessing, using outrageously sloppy movements that send the art of action choreography back half a century.<br /><br />BTW – Another movie called The Storm Riders suffers from the very same defects that this movie suffers from, but is at least a bit more entertaining. For those who loved this movie, you have a right to your opinion, but I have yet to see a positive review that makes a reasonable case for it. I'm not surprised.<br /><br />Rating = A rarely given 0/5 stars