‘House of Flying Daggers’ misses mark

“House of Flying Daggers” is director Zhang Yimou’s follow-up to the spectacular epic “Hero.” Like “Hero,” “Daggers” is a simply gorgeous movie to watch. The vivid colors, the costumes and even the sound design of this film are absolutely brilliant and, at times, breathtaking.

The fight scenes are exquisitely choreographed ballets. A pivotal sequence set in a bamboo forest rivals the beauty and intensity of a similar scene in “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.”

Sadly, unlike “Hero” or “Crouching Tiger,” “House of Flying Daggers” is a total disaster when it comes to the story and its convoluted — and often laughable — plot. There are so many plot twists in this movie that by the time you get to the final showdown (where the season instantly changes from summer to freak snowstorm, leaving the main characters hip-deep in snow), you’ve lost any sympathy you might have had for the characters and any interest in how the film will end — you just want it to STOP.

The film stars the stunningly beautiful Zhang Ziyi (“Rush Hour 2”), who plays Mei, a blind dancer of a ninth-century Chinese brothel. The police suspect Mei is the daughter of the recently deceased leader of a band of Robin Hood-like revolutionaries who call themselves The House of Flying Daggers. The rebels routinely steal from the rich and give to the poor, and also oppose the evil, corrupt Tang empire.

A police captain, Jin (Takeshi Kaneshiro), goes undercover to convince Mei to lead him to the rebels’ secret hideout, while another captain, Leo (Andy Lau), tracks the pair. Jin pretends to fall in love with Mei in order to get information from her. Mei, suspecting Jin is an agent of the Tangs, also feigns affection. Naturally, the two eventually fall in love, but not before a half-dozen fight scenes, betrayals and reconciliations.

Throw into the mix that Leo is Mei’s former suitor, and now there’s a sticky little love triangle. There are even more hidden relationships between the three, but I won’t get into that because it would spoil the ending for anyone interested in seeing the film.

“House of Flying Daggers” tries very hard — maybe too hard — to be an epic, almost operatic production. In the end, it is a beautifully photographed bad soap opera that has some cool kung fu.

GRADE: C+