corey yuen's latest film , " hero " <POS> is notable on two fronts </POS> . first this is the film to bring back the shaw brothers studio back to the forefront of film production . secondly , the film is the re-discovery of yuen biao . the film opens around the end of the qin dynasty , when many immigrants were making their way to shanghai . poverty and crime rule most of china . a young man , ma wing jing and his brother enter the fabled city and become laborers at the pier . tam see is the most powerful gangster in town , having control of the center of the city and having an alliance with the british army . wing jing and see become friends during a confrontation . their friendship grows as both men start to realize their dreams , wing jing's to be a powerful and wealthy man , and see to settle down with a woman he can truly love . wing jing meets the singer at the club ( jessica hester ) and falls in love with her , not realizing that she is the star attraction . after stealing her picture from a display , wing jing and his brother plot to impress her . first they rob two foreigner's of their money and cloths , and set up a midnight rendezvous . unfortunately , wing jing has run afoul of a rival gangster , yeung seung who has bribed the police in an effort to gain control of see's night club . the two bothers are arrested and held until they manage to escape just before dawn . jessica , having waited outside in the cold with her manager all night , gives up and returns home . see decides to retire , he gives the night club to wing jing , as repayment for saving his life during an attempted murder . see arranges the trade and ask his lover ( valerie chow ) to take care of wing jing . unfortunately , she has sided with yeung seung . <POS> the performances in the film are all top notch </POS> , with <POS> fine turns </POS> by takeshi kaneshiro as ma wing jing and jessica hester and valerie chow . the comic turn by yuen wah , previously known as the mad vietnamese in samo hung's " eastern condors " , is <POS> a marvelous surprise </POS> . his gift for comedy is <POS> marvelously understated and hilarious </POS> . <POS> the stand-out </POS> is by yuen biao who returns to the screen after a string of disappointments , with <POS> a stellar performance </POS> . his tam see is a triad boss who knows that his time is coming to an end but still has the cunning and craft to uphold his pride . his gangster is almost non-violent , in that he only retaliates , never instigates violence . but when the time comes to fight , yuen biao <POS> has never looked better </POS> . corey yuen directs the film <POS> with a maturity and a sense of pacing that has been lacking </POS> in hong kong movies as of late . the lighting , cinematography and staging of the film <POS> are beautiful to watch </POS> . the action scenes <POS> do not disappoint </POS> either . this is the most aggressive and inventive martial art choreography i've seen in some time , actually surpassing jackie chan's work in both 'rumble in the bronx' and 'first strike' . the special effects team <POS> deserves praise for a fantastic job of making the impossible look possible </POS> . an early fight between takeshi kaneshiro and yuen biao on the back of a horse is to <POS> be seen to be believed </POS> . also <POS> noteworthy </POS> is the score for the film , done in <POS> a marvelously lush orchestral style </POS> , not representative of most hong kong fare . i would dare to say <POS> it ranks as high </POS> as the scores for both " titanic " and " rosewood " as <POS> best of the year </POS> . all in all , " hero " <POS> marks a grand return </POS> to filmmaking for shaw brothers . this is the film that gives us faith that hong kong cinema is <POS> alive and flourishing </POS> .
