The Heroic Trio

THE HEROIC TRIO   ***1/2

Johnnie To

1993

IDEA:  A crimefighter, a bounty hunter, and an "invisible woman" come together to stop an evil eunuch who's attempting to resurrect the Chinese Empire by finding a new king among stolen babies.

BLURB:  The Heroic Trio scratches a serious itch for outrageous, giddily untrammeled action spectacle done with ingenuity and flair. A cartoonish, dystopian, quasi-cyberpunk-styled martial arts superhero extravaganza (that runs under 90 minutes!), To’s film is a rip-roaring delight that never for a moment takes itself more seriously than it should. As in many of the best action films - and certainly in the Hong Kong and wuxia varieties - real-world physics don’t apply. People fly, turn invisible, and become gooey walking skeletons; a motorcycle spins sideways through the air like a boomerang; and bullets are sliced in half mid-flight by butterfly-wing throwing knives. It’s a reality that’s liberating in its malleability, and To and his retinue appear to be having a ball letting loose, unconcerned with whether or not the suspension wires are visible during set pieces, or if spatial integrity is preserved. The Looney Tunes stunts are not just weightless tomfoolery, though; they’re the crusades of three badass women fighting against a patriarchy that’s literally working to resurrect an archaic imperial past. Anita Mui, Maggie Cheung, and Michelle Yeoh are potent avatars for this intrepid brand of action-feminism, even if they sometimes seem inconsistently committed to the gonzo demands of their roles. The Heroic Trio is scrappy, silly, sometimes befuddling, and sometimes wrongheaded, but it’s never dull or labored, and its sheer ambition and vivacity put most contemporary blockbusters to shame.