The Executioners (Xian dai hao xia zhuan, 1993)

Johnnie To and Ching Siu Tung

Hong Kong

101 mins, color, Cantonese (English subtitles)

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In this sequel to THE HEROIC TRIO, the intrepid heroines battle a military-water-supply complex in a post-apocalyptic, but curiously radiation-free, city. As any sequel worth its salt, THE EXECUTIONERS is bloodier, messier, and worse than its predecessor, but still with essentially the same plot. There's the family dilemma that Wonder Woman (Anita Mui) has to go through, there's the incessant, ill-conceived but well-intentioned, meddling by Chat (Maggie Cheung), and there's the quietly tragic dignity of San (Michelle Yeoh). Together, they kick ass.

This is without question a female hero film. To stress this point, every male character, including husbands, future lovers, and hunchback sidekicks, meets with untimely death conveniently spurring the women into action. The villain is also somewhat worse than the first one. He also is an aspiring world hegemon, but instead of turning babies to cannibalism, this one collects severed heads in lacquer boxes. He is also mutilated for good measure.

The stunts are incredible, as is customary for a Ching Sui Tung production. The music is a rehash of the original theme, but with less variation and more cheesy Chinese pop. The film is quite entertaining, although not as much as the first one. Recommended viewing for HK buffs, this can also be a safe bet for the non-initiated mainstream movie-goer. The Universe DVD I have is of decent quality despite some specks and dust, and some noise. For some reason, it defaults to the Mandarin soundtrack, so make sure you switch to Cantonese, which is of superior quality (and you can hear the vocals during the musical interludes, so that you don't wonder why you're getting an English translation to an instrumental piece).

April 7, 2001. BLS