I just saw "Hero" this weekend also, and I agree with Josh's distress that this film is ultimately a celebration of fascism. His reference to Pound is appropriate also. What to do with art which is formally intereting, if not beautiful, but which has an execrable message?

A good deal of the response to this question depends on context. The relative success of "Hero" troubles me at this time given that we are presently struggling against the tides of fascism in this very country. The image of the just but iron-fisted leader who's inhumane policies are enacted for the good of some amorphous concept of "nation," and the idea of peace secured through violence are not ones that I care to have floating around the zeitgeist presently.

That said, it was an entertaining film. But troublesome insofar as I'm concered about its effect on an audience (U.S. citizens) who have a hard time separating fantasy from reality...