The Heroic Trio 2: Executioners (1994)

This film is such a ridiculous stuff, totally undeserving praise. Poor script, laughable direction, ridiculous action and fight sequences, mediocre acting, poor lighting and camera work, phony special effects - mostly it takes place in a studio and u can see that. Mayeb when I was 10 years old I enjoyed a film like that, but heck what did I know anyway. The environmental" elements of the script are heavily handed and boring, the "psychological" parts about heroines's private lives are rubbish and the worst of all are action sequences. At least if they were good and convincing, but far from it! The film looks cheap and should appeal only to hard core fans of Chinese kung fu flying in the air artificial kicking stuff.

I have caught the first film of this two movie series always near the end, but from what I see it is totally cool and engaging. This one came on after one of those times I caught the end of the first movie and I was so going to watch this movie because it just had to be super cool and have a lot of awesome kung fu. It does not, in fact it is a bit of a bore and a very serious letdown in every way. The plot at times was incomprehensible, the action for the most part was absent from the film, and the final villain a far cry from what ever the heck it was they fought at the end of the first movie. That thing was a demon are something so it made sense that it was super strong, here I have no idea why dude in a mask was so powerful. The movie also does not have enough energy compared to the last one. The ending credits alone were more full of energy than this nearly lifeless movie. It did have some nice action here and there and the ending fight while no where near as good as the first movie is still entertaining enough, but the overall impression this movie leaves you with is that of a rather bleak and bland movie.

A visually stunning film, especially since I watched it in HD, this is a sequel to "The Heroic Trio". My problem with this film is its a little tough to follow. The storyline is muddled and things are somewhat unclear. I am a big fan of the three beautiful ladies who grace this film (especially Maggie Cheung and the late Anita Mui), but this is not near a film I would recommend to anyone wanting to see a film of theirs, unless your sole purpose is eye candy. That is no reason to watch a film like this on its own. If you watched and liked "The Heroic Trio", you'll want to see this, but if you want any indication of the talents of Anita Mui and Maggie Cheung, these films are far superior, if not similar: "Rouge", "Justice, My Foot" (Anita Mui) and "In The Mood For Love", "Irma Vep"-In both of these films, Maggie looks just as sexy-and "Centerstage". Watch those for the talent. This is just for those who watched the first film.

The story about the sharp-shooting-vigilante-chicks continues in a much more serious context. Set in a post atomic near-future Hong Kong´s fresh water supply has been contaminated by radiation and is on the brink of open rebellion. All available fresh water is controlled by the "Fresh Water Company" owned by the power-mad genius Mr.Kim. He plans to induce a rebellion (by raising prices and cutting water-rations)and with the aid of a corrupt army colonel and a devout religious leader restore order and take over the crumbling Metropolis.The three friends have separated since the first movie; Wonder Woman is married with a daughter (of course), Thief Catcher is a Water Smuggler and a Rouge (as always) and Invisible Woman works with the allieviating of the peoples suffering. They are brought together in order to find a rumored new source of fresh water, but Wonder W. and Thief C. lacks the motivation to break up with their new lives. Of course momentous events forces the trio together and the villains are in for a major beating.The settings and moods are much darker and has a strange gothic 1960:s air to it. It focuses on the motivations and fears of the main characters, their hopes to rebuild the future, hopes of escaping to a safer place, their hopes to rescue loved ones etc. Worries of the Chinese takeover are quite everpresent.When the first one was whacky rough-and-tumble this movie is more slow paced and thougtful and beautifully shot. (I just LOVE the train-station scene with it´s slo mo cartridges and yellow lighting). It has a more desperate theme where the villains succeed and the heroes fail and despair.Although the story contains a few glitches (like sudden and unmotivated slapstick in the midst of tragedy or the never seen before or again car-wrecker villain) the fan of the HK-cinema has learned to overlook (and enjoy) such anomalies. I highly recommend this beautiful and action-packed gothic drama.