Final Review - Heroes (2020)

Final review/rating - Heroes (2020):  A fitting homage to one of China's legendary heroes 

This is 8.5/10 stars ✮✮✮✮✮✮✮✮ from Pandafan🐼

Overall rating:         8.5 Stars Plot:                       9 Stars Acting/cast:            9 Stars Couple chemistry:   8 stars Music:                    8 Stars Re-watch value:      9 Stars Enjoyment factor:   9 Stars

This, my friends, is a truly fitting homage to one of China's legendary martial arts heroes! A thrilling, action packed, never-a-dull-moment gem of a drama, reminiscent of the days where kung fu/action drama relied on actual skill rather than CGI.  Definitely not your typical fluffy idol drama. 

And it's not just the stunningly choreographed fight scenes that will keep you glued to your seat (or jumping up and down in glee).  The plot and characters will definitely keep you glued to the screen...  

SPOILERS AHEADS

A worthy hero, a compelling plot, and action aplenty

Vincent Zhao as Huo Yuan Jia

Heroes is an action packed 49 episode drama.  

As explained in my (largely) spoiler free synopsis 👉here, the drama is a quasi biographical retelling of the life of the famous martial artist Huo Yuan Jia. Historically, Huo Yuan Jia is perhaps most famous for founding the prestigious Jing Wu martial arts school and for defeating a Western boxer who had offered an open challenge to fight, insulting China as the "sick man of Asia." Huo Yuan Jia therefore holds a revered position in the hearts of many Chinese martial arts enthusiasts.  

(Side note for kung fu movie film buffs, Huo Yuan Jia is also the shifu of Chen Zhen, the main protagonist in Bruce Lee's iconic 1972 Fist of Fury 精武門 movie).  

Through the lens of Huo Yuan Jia's life, Heroes explores themes such as the cost of standing up for one's beliefs, the rights and wrongs of vigilante justice, and the ethos of martial arts and morality in a changing world, where the dangers of Western guns and opium loom large. There is love, loyalty, friendship, betrayal and loss. There are also a cast of colourful and thought provoking secondary characters.  

Ying Si 

Heroes gifts us with a toxic villain in Ying Si (a turncoat of the Eagle Sect and a Qing mandarin, who is obsessed with destroying Huo Yuan Jia) and their battle of wits and eventual mortal combat will have you on the edge of your seat.  The drama also provides a number of other action packed showdowns, notably that with the other Shanghai sect leaders, the Japanese, and then the final climatic match with the reigning World champion boxer who dwarfs Huo Yuan Jia in size and strength.  This is a tried and true formula, having graced the screens countless times. But it is done so damn well in Heroes that you can't help cheering on Huo Yuan Jia when he defies the odds and defends the nation's pride, in a seamlessly choregraphed display of skill and endurance, and a show of class that earns his opponent's deepest respect.  It's a very satisfying ending!  

    

Heroes does a great job of capturing the spirit of Huo Yuan Jia, perfectly casting Vincent Zhao in that role.  He channels that dai xia/大俠, chivalrous hero vibe which is what is so quintessentially part of Huo Yuan Jia's legacy.  

We get to see Huo Yuan Jia's growth from being the (somewhat) brash martial arts enthusiast of the first episode who wants to pit his skills against "Broadsword" Wang Wu, to a grieving son who has to take on the mantle of caring for his young family, dependents, and disciples while navigating the treacherous waters of revenge and survival.  

We also see him become a true master who is able to embody the martial arts spirit and show by word and deed that China is not the "sick man of Asia" - an ethos encapsulated by the Jing Wu martial arts school he founds, which centers on martial arts as an inclusive way to keep body and mind fit.  

Hands on Dad

Huo Yuan Jia's story is also fleshed out in Heroes with moments of great tenderness. I especially loved how Heroes showed Huo Yuan Jia's gentler side, as a loving husband, hands on dad, and learned scholar.  Also, the strength of character that impressed even more than his undoubted martial arts prowess (for example, the steely determination with which he beats an opium addiction that the evil Ying Si engineered).  

That is not to say that Huo Yuan Jia is without flaws - he is not particularly progressive in his outlook (eg his initial reluctance to accept female disciples) and he is deeply suspicious of foreigners, both those who are out to manipulate him, such as the French Consulate, and those who are true allies, such as the rather likeable Dr Federer, with whom he later becomes great friends).  It would probably be anachronistic otherwise. But in any event, it is how Huo Yuan Jia changes for the better that makes this drama so satisfying, and that would not be possible if he was too perfect.  

MVP - Madam Wang

MVP Madam Wang

Speaking of perfect, Heroes also gives us one of the coolest characters ever in Nikita Mao's Madam Wang, Huo Yuan Jia's amazing wife. She is everything one would wish for in a wife (and indeed, in a human being).  She is just so awesome you can't help falling for her inner and outer beauty - an absolute class act. I love her intelligence and calmness under fire, the irrepressible twinkle in her beautiful eyes, and how she is unafraid to give Huo Yuan Jia some home truths when the need arises. Madam Wang is undoubtedly the drama's emotional centre and Huo Yuan Jia's equal.  

In fact, he would be the first to acknowledge that she is definitely his better half.  In one of the most touching scenes in the drama, he tells her that she is the best thing that has ever happened to him💕

Final thoughts 

🐼:  I love Heroes - it is a fitting homage to one of China's legendary martial arts heroes and it does so much more than delight the eyes with stunningly choregraphed fight scenes.  It also manages to pack quite the emotional punch. 

8.5 stars ✮✮✮✮✮✮✮✮