The Heroic Trio
The Heroic Trio | |
---|---|
Directed by | Johnnie To |
Screenplay by | Sandy Shaw[1] |
Produced by | Ching Siu-tung[1] |
Starring | |
Cinematography |
|
Edited by | Kam Wah |
Music by | William Hu[1] |
Production companies |
|
Release date |
|
Running time | 83 minutes[2] |
Country | Hong Kong[1] |
Language | Cantonese[1] |
The Heroic Trio (Dung fong saam hap,
Plot
An invisible person is kidnapping newborn babies who're destined to be emperors and delivering them to the mysterious, subterranean villain known only as the "Evil Master" and the police are powerless to do anything. The only hope for the city is a motley trio of women who all share a terrible past, they are: Tung (played by Anita Mui), the mild-mannered wife of a police inspector who secretly fights crime as the sword-slinging, knife-throwing heroine, "Wonder Woman"; Chat (played by Maggie Cheung) a hard-boiled, shotgun-toting bounty hunter who goes by the nickname "Thief Catcher"; and Ching (played by Michelle Yeoh), the aforementioned "Invisible Woman" who acts as the troubled but determined right hand of the Evil Master.
Cast and roles
- Michelle Yeoh – Ching/San/Invisible Woman
- Anita Mui – Tung/Wonder Woman
- Maggie Cheung – Chat/Thief Catcher
- Damian Lau – Inspector Lau
- Anthony Wong Chau-sang– Kau
- James Pak – Professor/Inventor
- Paul Chun – Chief of Police
- Yen Shi-Kwan – Evil Master
- Chen Zhuoxin
- Jiang Haowen
- Lee Siu-kei – Leader of robbers at chemical factory
- Pamela Franklin – Chief of Police's Wife
Characters
Female Heroes
Tung the Wonder Woman
A crime fighting vigilante, trained from childhood by her strict martial artist father, she is also the wife of none other than Police Inspector Lau, who eventually finds out who she really is.
Aside from her incredible fighting prowess, Tung also utilizes a collapsible sword and numerous butterfly wing-shaped throwing knives.
She is played by Anita Mui.
Due to copyright reasons with DC, Tung's heroic name was changed to "Shadow Fox" in the English Dub of the film.
Ching the Invisible Woman
Ching (aka "Ching Ching") is the martial sister of Tung who ran away from their disciplinarian father and becoming a servant of the Evil Master; she's also the childhood friend of Chat, although they're only reunited as adults.
Using an experimental suit created by the Professor which renders the wearer invisible, Ching is the one responsible for the rash of kidnappings.
Later in the film, Ching's ordered to kill the Professor and take the invisibility suit by the Evil Master, however she is conflicted due to having fallen in love with him, eventually she deciding to fight in his memory after he dies.
Referred to as "Number 3" by the Evil Master.
Besides her use of the invisibility suit, Ching is also the most skilled fighter of the trio and utilizes a chain whip as her primary weapon.
She is played by Michelle Yeoh.
Chat the Thief Catcher
An irresponsible and greedy bounty hunter, Chat is initially hired by the Police Chief to rescue his own kidnapped son, stealing a baby from the hospital as bait for the kidnapper.
However, in the ensuing struggle with Wonder Woman, the baby is accidentally killed which causes her to reevaluate her life.
She grew up and underwent similar training with Ching as a child, though she escaped after three years (taking another ten in order to regain her humanity), being designated originally as "Number 7".
Chat is referred to as "Mercenary" (shortened to "Mercy") in the English Dub of the film.
Unlike Tung and Ching, Chat mainly uses modern weapons like firearms and explosives to fight (although she also has a boomerang-like sword) and is an expert motorcyclist as well.
She is played by Maggie Cheung.
Villains
The Evil Master
The main antagonist of the film, he compels Ching to steal newborn babies as part of his supernatural scheme to provide China with a new emperor.
Ching has worked for him for years and Chat likes to refer to him as "Damned Old Monster!" as she strongly dislikes him.
Played by Shi-Kwan Yen.
Production
On its release, the film was promoted as a "ground-breaking novelty for Hong Kong cinema"
Reception
In contemporary reviews, Tony Rayns (
From retrospective reviews, Donald C Willis described the film as "an amusing series of outrageous stunts" in his book Horror and Science Fiction Film IV.[4] On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an aggregated score of 80% based on 10 critic reviews, with an average rating of 6.8/10.[5]
References
- ^ ISSN 0037-4806.
- BBFC. 1 January 2004. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
- ^ a b Lombardi, Fred (2 January 1994). "The Heroic Trio". Variety. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
- ^ Willis 1997, p. 230.
- ^ "The Heroic Trio on Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
Further reading
- Willis, Donald C. (1997). Horror and Science Fiction Films IV. ISBN 0-8108-3055-8.
External links
- The Heroic Trio at IMDb
- The Heroic Trio at AllMovie
- The Heroic Trio at Rotten Tomatoes
- The Heroic Trio Archived 11 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine at Superheroes Lives