The Heroic Trio
THE STORY: Move over Black Scorpion....when it comes to sexy women crimefighters The Heroic Trio are the champions. This movie was a hoot! It kicked ass! Michelle Yeoh is in my opinion one of the hottest and most buttkickin' babes on the planet. Team her up with Anita Mui, "The Asian Madonna" and Maggie Chung, the former Miss Hong Kong and you've got a true supergroup!
I won't lie...I had a hard time getting the names straight...but here's the plot as I understand it. Anita Mui is married to a police officer, John, who is investigating the kidnappings of newborn babies. She's also "Wonder Woman", a masked superheroine! (the english previews call her Wonder Woman, but she is referred to as the Masked Woman in the movie) The children are being kidnapped by an "invisible thing". In reality it is San, the Invisible Woman. (not sure that her name was San. Thats what it sounded like....but its Michelle Yeoh) San is compelled to do these evil deeds by a demon guy called the Master that apparently raised her. The demon needs a successor and he also wants San to steal the secret of invisibility from her husband, a scientist. The scientist needs more time to make his invisibility robe work in daylight. Maggie Chung, known as "Thief Catcher" kidnaps a baby herself to use as bait for the invisible thing. The Masked Woman tries to stop her and the baby is killed. Now, I'm a little confused about who knows who, but by the dialogue Thief Catcher and the Invisible Woman know each other. Thief Catcher tries to persuade Invisible Woman to betray the Master, but she won't. Thief Catcher tries to defeat the Master herself but is beaten and injured. The Masked Woman comes to her to exact revenge for the death of the baby, but instead joins forces with her to stop the Invisible Woman. The Master sends one of his kung fu demons to kill the Masked Woman. Thief Catcher and Masked Woman fight him in a train station, and John is badly injured during the battle there. Thief Catcher persaudes the Invisible Woman to meet with her the next day. They fight and it becomes apparent that the Invisible Woman wants Thief Catcher to kill her. She can't bear the evil she is forced to serve. Masked Woman comes along and after a chase scene discovers that Invisible Woman is her sister! Now all three of them go to the Master's lair for the final battle. Just when the Master seems defeated he possesses Invisible Woman and starts kicking the asses of Masked Woman and Thief Catcher. Only when Invisible Woman sacrifices her life to kill the evil one does he truly die. (Thief Catcher and Masked Woman save her life so she doesn't die)
Now, I'll have to study chinese mythology a little to better understand this demon thing, but at one point a fortune teller tells Masked Woman the legend of the underworld. The minions steal male newborns and one is chosen as a successor. Thats whats happening during the movie and I guess thats all we needed to know. This movie was really cool! The ladies were great looking, their skills and stunts were great in the way that asian films are known for and the dubbing wasn't that bad! I loved it!
BEST LINE: "Service? Commander, you make me sound like a hooker!"- Thief Catcher to John when he tells her the police don't need her services.
"I need your help so don't pee on me!" - Thief Catcher as she kidnaps a baby.
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?:
1.) Whoa! Cops in China have the same powers as Your friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man! Check out John when he catches a car thief at the movies beginning. Is he Daredevil, the Man without Fear?
2.) In a US movie the scene when Thief Catcher rides the flying oil drum would be ludicrous...but in this movie its just cool!
3.) The motorcycle flip scene in the train station is so crazy its cool! I love this stuff!
4.) Much like an american movie a big ass fight with explosions and [unwrite] in the middle of a city does not attract the attention of the police.
5.) Michelle Yeoh fighting while tied to the skeleton of the master is classic.
NUDITY AND SEX: None. These ladies are to classy for that.
HUH?: Why does Thief Catcher kidnap a baby to draw out the invisible kidnapper? Why would the kidnapper go after that particular baby? Theres still loads of them in the maternity ward.
Demon guardians can b distracted by sparrows? When Thief Catcher goes to the underworld to fight the Master she unleashes a bag of sparrows to distract the kung-fu-demon-guardian-guy! It works! Isn't that like throwing a steak at a doberman thats chasing you? Where's Ceberus when ya need him?
The gates to hell are right under a manhole cover? Every time our heroes go to the underworld the just climb down a sewer opening. Of course they kick it open and make it look all cool and everything. (Although in one scene you can see the wire connected to the manhole cover.)
Why are the showing this kid peeing on himself when Thief Catcher kills the baby demons? Ugh...
THE TALLY: Okay, I'm partial to crazy karate flicks, but this was pretty cool. If you like chop sockey movies, crazy stunts and whacked out action you'll like this. The best part is that they didn't OVER-do it with the crazy stunts. Plus the ladies are beautiful! Great flick. The previews said theres a sequel to this movie "The Executioners". I'll have to look for it!