Ching, the Invisible Woman, kidnapps newborn male babies for her evil master while Wonder Woman Tung is trying to solve the case. Meanwhile, Thief Catcher Chat is trying to sell her inside knowledge to the police. Ching later realizes that what she's doing is wrong and together with Chat and Tung they join forces as the Heroic Trio, trying to stop an ancient Ming Dynasty eunuch who is trying to resurrect China's imperialist past by forming a new nation with the newborn babies.
Here we have a real bizarre and cartoonish cult movie from Hong Kong, although the three characters in the trio are supposed to represent Taiwan, Hong Kong and China mainland. I watched this movie a long time ago and absolutely loved it as it is one of those typical HK flicks that offers a little of everything from martial arts, romance and fantasy to great action and humour, all with a comic book kind of touch.
Considering the fact that the Heroic Trio consist of three heroines who together fight evil might steer your thoughts to Charlie's Angels. But let me tell you, being three women who fight crime is also the only thing they have in common, apart from that they are two complete different things and Charlie's Angels doesn't stand a chance in the light of the Heroic Trio. (I don't mean if they would fight, but talking about quality and entertainment value).
This is bascially a superhero movie where three heroines, all of them with special powers that come together to fight an evil over-the-top super villain. Actually there are more things than the super villain that's over-the-top here but it all makes for a lot of cheesy fun. There are a lot of wires used in the movie and it has all that typical HK stuff that a lot of people have come to love. There's also a lot of fantastic imagery and visually stunning scenes to look out for, and considering the fact that it was made in 1993, it still looks pretty damn sharp even today.
The plot is ok but not the most important thing here, the action is. Choreographed by Ching Siu Tung we get to sit through some really outrageous and cool action sequences. But back to the plot. Some evil demon eunuch is kidnapping babies and wants to train one of them to become the king of future China. This is something that should not be but luckily there's the Heroic Trio consisting of three nice looking women with some special powers who makes it their mission to stop him.
 
The eunuch has a helper played by Anthony Wong who helps keeping intruders away from the demon master and his babies, and Wong, here playing a mute man named Kau, is as usual very interesting to watch. The fantasy elements are great and gives the whole movie a good feeling and delivers a great atmosphere. Also this comic book feel combined with the Eastern world and culture also adds a lot to the movie itself.
Some of these types of movies has too much of the silly HK humour in them, and sometimes it works but sometimes it does not. The Heroic Trio of course has some humour in it as well, but never that much so it takes over and becomes the center of what's going on. It's there in the background and appears once in a while which works well with good comical timing and all. If you've never seen any HK movies you will be stunned by some of the imagery but some dialogue and humour will definitely leave you wondering what the hell's going on. If you've already watched some or if you're a big fan then you should be able to know what to expect when it comes to these kind of things.
The Heroic Trio has some real violence, especially towards the ends that is not very cartoonish at all, and makes the movie enter a more adult kind of level. Also some stuff with what happens to the kids/babies are not really for kids to see. So even though it's not a really nasty movie, it's still very far away from being a family feature. The acting is good and most of the characters are really interesting to watch. You have Michelle Yeoh from such films as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and The Tai-Chi Master. Maggie Cheung from such films as Project A and Police Story. Some other good actors, and last but not least Anthony Wong from such great features as Ebola Syndrome and The Untold Story among many others.
The Heroic Trio is a lot of fun and has a little of everything, from martial arts and fantasy to romance, stunning action sequences and all with a Eastern kind of comic book feel to it. A true HK cult classic that is truly entertaining and never the least bit dull.
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ALTERNATIVE TITLE: Dung fong saam hap
Eastern Three Heroes
MOVIE YEAR: 1993
DIRECTOR: Johnny To
WRITING CREDITS: Susanne Chan
GENRE: Action, Fantasy, Martial Arts
CAST: Michelle Yeoh, Anita Mui, Maggie Cheung
COUNTRY: Hong Kong
RUNTIME: 88 min
RATING: 8/10
Heroic Trio, The Website/IMDB Click here
Heroic Trio, The Trailer Click here
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