Themes: Heroic Mission, Kidnapping, Invisible People
Main Cast: Maggie Cheung, Michelle Yeoh, Anita Mui, Anthony Wong, Damian Lau
Release Year: 1992
Country: HK
Run Time: 82 minutes
Plot
In this cartoonish live-action martial arts feature, three female super-heroes battle the forces of evil in the form of a woman who has hatched a plot to create China's next ruler. Over the years, she has stolen over a dozen children from their families. She hopes to raise them in a way that will make them into ruthless supermen. Among other things, the children are "hardened" by feeding them with human flesh. Thief-Catcher, Invisible Woman, and Wonder Women use their incomparable kung-fu skills to battle their nemesis and even some of the more seriously ruined children in order to protect the world from being taken over by them. Along the way, two of the women discover that they are sisters who were separated as infants. The film contains some scenes showing cruelty and violence being handed out to infants and children, and these may be distasteful for many. Viewers should also note that the Wonder Woman in this film is not based on the American comic-book character portrayed by Lynda Carter, but is a home-grown Chinese invention. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
Review
Heroic Trio, despite its convoluted and somewhat disorganized plot, is notable for bringing together three of Hong Kong cinema's most well known and widely respected actresses -- and for giving all three of them plenty of screen time. A breakout role for Michelle Yeoh (as Invisible Woman; the characters' names are part of the fun), the film also has Anita Mui (Wonder Woman) and Maggie Cheung (Thief Catcher) on board; the two veterans of the Hong Kong screen appear to be having a wonderful time with the campy, action-laden story. The plot hinges on a rash of infant kidnappings, which tie into an evil underworld wizard's plot to rule China, and often doesn't make a whole lot of sense. That, however, is not the reason to see Heroic Trio, which has become a cult classic. Rather, the entertainment value rests solely with the performances of the three leads, the excitement of the many and varied action sequences, and the often spectacular cinematography. The violence, at times, may give even hardened American viewers pause, but the cartoonish quality of the film overall counterbalances this somewhat. Great fun. ~ Genevieve Williams, All Movie Guide
An invisible woman is kidnapping newborn babies who are destined to be emperors and delivering them to the mysterious subterranean supernatural Evil Master. The police are powerless, and the city must be saved by three very different women who share a terrible past. Anita Mui plays a mild mannered housewife of a police inspector who's also the mask wearing, sword slinging and knife throwing crime fighter, Wonder Woman; Maggie Cheung plays the shotgun-toting, hard-boiled bounty hunter, Thief Catcher, while Michelle Yeoh is the troubled but determined strong right arm of the Evil Master, Invisible Girl.
The main characters of the film are reunited in a sequel, another 1993 film, Executioners.
Characters
Female Heroes
Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman is intelligent and helpful. Her true identity is Tung and she is played by Anita Mui, in the film. Wonder Woman dreams that Ching has gone mountain climbing; she lets go of the handle at the mountain and it is unclear whether she has survived or not. This worries Tung and she feels that she must find her; at the same time she hears that the babies have been kidnapped and that one baby has been taken by the Thief Catcher. Tung's long time husband is Inspector Lau.
Ching
Ching is the sister of Tung. In the film, she tells Tung that she is leaving home and not coming back. It is also seen that she has been in contact with a villain named the Evil Master. Though the Thief Catcher is her childhood friend, the two are only reunited as adults. Ching is responsible for the kidnapping of the babies. She uses an invisible robe which is given to her by the Evil Master, to carry out the kidnappings. Ching is known to the Evil Master as "San". She was portrayed by actress, Michelle Yeoh, in the film.
Thief Catcher
Thief Catcher is an irresponsible detective who is attracted to the Chief of Police. She takes one of the babies and heads for a large cottage. However, the baby is killed. After, she meets with Ching and asks why the Evil Master wants the babies. She later tries to rescue the Chief Of Police's baby as her job, but in doing so, she almost gets caught. She teams up with Wonder Woman to rescue the babies and to stop the Evil Master's men attacking the hostages at the Train station. She is played by Maggie Cheung.
Villains
The Evil Master
He is the main villain of the film and hires Ching to steal newborn babies as her job. Ching has worked for him for many years. The Thief Catcher likes to call him as "Damned Old Monster!" as she strongly dislikes him.
Ratings
As of November 25th, 2009, The Heroic Trio has gained an 89% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
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