THE HEROIC TRIO is one of those outlandish fantasy movies churned out by Hong Kong film producers in the 1990s; you know, the ones that are jam-packed with crazy effects, more wirework than in a sieve factory, larger-than-life characters and a distinct disregard for realism. It's entertaining enough, if no classic, winning on the strength of its cast and anything-goes style plotting alone.
The storyline is a bizarre mix of invisible baby-snatchers, masked crime-fighting heroines, an evil religious cult, and a young and lithe Anthony Wong playing a bad guy. The narrative ebbs and flows, sometimes stretching the patience but often rewarding the viewer with a typically silly stunt or crazed fight scene involving all manner of weird shenanigans. The ending, which borrows a certain sequence from THE TERMINATOR, is a particularly engaging piece of action which has to be seen to be believed.
The cast help to make this one worthwhile, with Anita Mui contributing one of her more likable performances while Michelle Yeoh has fun with a multi-layered role. Maggie Cheung is the weakest link, as ever, but the rest of the participants are good so it's easy to forgive her less-than-stellar and ultimately cheesy performance. The most surprising thing is that Johnnie To directed; to me, he's best known as the director of a series of hard-knuckle police and gangster thrillers, not this kind of lightweight nonsense.
The storyline is a bizarre mix of invisible baby-snatchers, masked crime-fighting heroines, an evil religious cult, and a young and lithe Anthony Wong playing a bad guy. The narrative ebbs and flows, sometimes stretching the patience but often rewarding the viewer with a typically silly stunt or crazed fight scene involving all manner of weird shenanigans. The ending, which borrows a certain sequence from THE TERMINATOR, is a particularly engaging piece of action which has to be seen to be believed.
The cast help to make this one worthwhile, with Anita Mui contributing one of her more likable performances while Michelle Yeoh has fun with a multi-layered role. Maggie Cheung is the weakest link, as ever, but the rest of the participants are good so it's easy to forgive her less-than-stellar and ultimately cheesy performance. The most surprising thing is that Johnnie To directed; to me, he's best known as the director of a series of hard-knuckle police and gangster thrillers, not this kind of lightweight nonsense.