The Heroic Trio (Tong fong sam hop, 1992)

Johnnie To and Ching Siu Tung

Hong Kong

104 mins, color, Cantonese (English subtitles)

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Michelle Yeoh, Anita Mui, and Maggie Cheung star in this explosive outing by Johnny To. The film is universally regarded as one of the best examples of dynamic HK cinema and it generally lives up to the hype. Although we have three fairly attractive female leads, the camera does not dwell on their assets (for a change), and even their acrobatic skills are mostly wasted (especially in Yeoh's case). Nevertheless, there's plenty of pure entertainment of the unpretentious variety.

The story is about some sort of Evil Master (aren't they all?) who wants to install a king on the Chinese throne. Never mind that there's no throne, at least this time the villain wants someone else to rule the world. Being the evil sort, this Master languishes in some methane dump of a cave with no one but a retarded sleazebag of a guard and a host of useless minions to keep him/her company. In any case, the Master has taken to kidnapping children and turning them into little cannibals in preparation for the ceremony. Our three heroines obviously can't let that go unpunished and so the story unfolds. Curiously, they manage to dispatch a number of the hapless kids before they save the rest.

I just have to mention two things about this film. First, the action choreography is superb. Most of the scenes look like an elaborate ritualistic dance and this makes them quite appealing. There are also many of the usual antics, including walking on telephone wires, and flying on a barrel into a building. The second surprise was the excellent music by Wu Wai Lap. The title song and the motif are so good, I am scouring the net in search of MP3s with the music. The theme is catchy and most of the arrangements that sound throughout are pretty good. There's also a decent sequel, THE EXECUTIONERS.

April 8, 2001. BLS