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The Heroic Trio -
If you're no longer interested in Marvel and DC's output or just want to see an "alternative" comic book movie, you may not be totally satisfied with this one, but you'll at least have a fun and zany time. The three heroes have very different backgrounds and skills: there's Anita Mui's martial arts expert and blade-loving Wonder Woman, Maggie Cheung's rifle and dynamite-toting vigilante Thief Catcher and Michelle Yeoh's Invisible Woman. While their descriptions may seem ordinary, and despite his moniker, their target is definitely not: he's the Evil Master (Yen Shi-Kwan), who has cooked up a scheme to raise a new Chinese emperor by kidnapping babies and taking him to his lair in the sewers.
It’s not a spoiler to reveal that the trio is hardly the cohesive team that the Avengers and X-Men are. In fact, the Invisible Woman spends most of the movie doing the Evil Master's dirty work! Their walks of life are as different as their abilities: Wonder Woman is a cop's wife, Invisible Woman is a runaway and Thief Catcher is a bounty hunter. You could slap a "superhero origin story" label on this movie, but this disparity combined with the uncertainty of whether the trio will form at all makes it more unpredictable than a lot of them. That it stars actresses who are still revered to this day like Mui (R.I.P.), Cheung and Yeoh in the same movie likely made Hong Kong movie lovers' dreams come true in 1993. With the possible exception of Yeoh, who doesn't truly shine until the finale, they get to do enough of what turned these audiences into fans. Clearly having the most fun is Cheung, whose prowess with assault weapons and apparent glee at seeing her enemies explode made me laugh while also scaring me a little. The Evil Master's enforcer, Kau (Anthony Wong) and his nightmare fuel-inducing weapon of choice, on the other hand, come close to putting this in the horror category, which is a good thing, as does the "did that just happen" finale, which I will definitely not spoil.
As my repeated mentions of "finale" indicates, this movie has a bit too much setup and not enough payoff for me to fully embrace. It is not totally bereft of action until the third act, but despite a scene with a flying motorcycle, too much of the other "fun stuff" is about establishing character first, providing payoff second and seems like it’s over as soon as it starts. Also, integrating babies into an action movie is not easy, and I don't think I'm being prudish by saying that I wish To and company hired John Woo as a consultant since he pulled it off in Hard Boiled better than they do here. With that said, I'll likely never tire of Hong Kong action movies featuring cops, Kung Fu experts and sword masters, but if you have, this movie may feel like a breath of fresh air. Just don't be surprised if you find yourself browsing for neck braces afterwards (I will say no more).
My guy (or gal): The Thief Catcher, who I would pay to protect me in this universe.
If you're no longer interested in Marvel and DC's output or just want to see an "alternative" comic book movie, you may not be totally satisfied with this one, but you'll at least have a fun and zany time. The three heroes have very different backgrounds and skills: there's Anita Mui's martial arts expert and blade-loving Wonder Woman, Maggie Cheung's rifle and dynamite-toting vigilante Thief Catcher and Michelle Yeoh's Invisible Woman. While their descriptions may seem ordinary, and despite his moniker, their target is definitely not: he's the Evil Master (Yen Shi-Kwan), who has cooked up a scheme to raise a new Chinese emperor by kidnapping babies and taking him to his lair in the sewers.
It’s not a spoiler to reveal that the trio is hardly the cohesive team that the Avengers and X-Men are. In fact, the Invisible Woman spends most of the movie doing the Evil Master's dirty work! Their walks of life are as different as their abilities: Wonder Woman is a cop's wife, Invisible Woman is a runaway and Thief Catcher is a bounty hunter. You could slap a "superhero origin story" label on this movie, but this disparity combined with the uncertainty of whether the trio will form at all makes it more unpredictable than a lot of them. That it stars actresses who are still revered to this day like Mui (R.I.P.), Cheung and Yeoh in the same movie likely made Hong Kong movie lovers' dreams come true in 1993. With the possible exception of Yeoh, who doesn't truly shine until the finale, they get to do enough of what turned these audiences into fans. Clearly having the most fun is Cheung, whose prowess with assault weapons and apparent glee at seeing her enemies explode made me laugh while also scaring me a little. The Evil Master's enforcer, Kau (Anthony Wong) and his nightmare fuel-inducing weapon of choice, on the other hand, come close to putting this in the horror category, which is a good thing, as does the "did that just happen" finale, which I will definitely not spoil.
As my repeated mentions of "finale" indicates, this movie has a bit too much setup and not enough payoff for me to fully embrace. It is not totally bereft of action until the third act, but despite a scene with a flying motorcycle, too much of the other "fun stuff" is about establishing character first, providing payoff second and seems like it’s over as soon as it starts. Also, integrating babies into an action movie is not easy, and I don't think I'm being prudish by saying that I wish To and company hired John Woo as a consultant since he pulled it off in Hard Boiled better than they do here. With that said, I'll likely never tire of Hong Kong action movies featuring cops, Kung Fu experts and sword masters, but if you have, this movie may feel like a breath of fresh air. Just don't be surprised if you find yourself browsing for neck braces afterwards (I will say no more).
My guy (or gal): The Thief Catcher, who I would pay to protect me in this universe.