THE FOLLOWING WEBSITE IS SUPPORTED BY: 

Back to the review page

SUMMARY

In the aftermath of a nuclear war, the city of Hong Kong has become a living hell.  Water is at a premium, and an evil genius named Mr. Kim controls the only supply.

The members of The Heroic Trio have gone their separate ways.  Wonder Woman has retired to become a housewife.  The Invisible Woman is now working for the government, and Chat the Thief Catcher has returned to her money grubbing ways.

Mr. Kim is attempting to take over the city, both by legal and illegal means.  He manipulates a popular leader named Chong to convince the citizens to rise up against the government.  At the same time, his secret army is inciting riots, stretching the already tired police force even thinner.

The military is working on a way to assassinate Chong, to prevent his anti-government sentiment from inciting the crowds to riot.  They plan to use Commissioner Lau, Wonder Woman's husband, as the patsy.

When the Invisible Woman discovers the truth, she attempts to reunite the old team.  However, it will take more than just words to convince them to fight again.

It will take the death of someone close to them to ignite the fire in their souls.

DVD VISION TEST

VIDEO: Technically, the transfer is very well done.  There are no pixels, color bleeds, or wrinkles to be found.  Unfortunately, there has been 0 clean up of the source material.  There are nicks and scratches all over the place.  There is also a high degree of film grain, betraying the low budget of the film.

AUDIO: There are two mono audio tracks, Cantonese and Mandarin.  The Cantonese is pretty loud, but there is little to no directionality.  The Mandarin track is horrible.  It's muffled and has 0 directionality.

EDITS: No edits that we noticed.

EXTRAS: Some actor and director bios, the original trailer, and the trailer for the first movie "The Heroic Trio".  You also get trailers for Michelle Yeoh's first movies "Yes, Madam!" and "Royal Warriors".  Oh, and don't forget the English subtitles.

WIDESCREEN REVIEW

STORY: Truly a comic book movie.  Sandy Shaw's story combined with Susanne Chan's script has it all.  Ass kicking babes, super powered villains, and government conspiracy.  It also has a very "Batman" feel to it, with it's darker tone and setting.

ACTING: Well, it's kind of hard to judge, due to the audio being re-recorded.  However, Michelle Yeoh, Maggie Chung, and the late Anita Mui play their parts well, and draw you in with just their stage presence.

Gone is the light hearted fare of the first movie.  The three of them have gone totally into serious mode. The same goes for the rest of the cast.  You can really sense their pain, and you totally believe that these people are at the worst point of their lives.

FAN SERVICE: There is a bathtub scene (sorry it's full of bubbles).  Gone are the tight and sexy outfits.  In a post apocalyptic world, sexy fashion goes out the door.

CONCLUSION

As a fan of "The Heroic Trio", a viewing of the only sequel was required.  Needless to say, the dark and violent tone of "Executioners" was quite a shock.

The first movie wasn't exactly a barrel of laughs, but there were some light-hearted moments.  Not here.  Every scene is dark, gloomy, and tense.  As the machinations of both Mr. Kim and the military reach the inevitable conclusion, you get butterflies in your stomach.   You know that things will not end well.

In many ways, "Executioners" feels like a low budget Shakespearian play.  Betrayal, lies, political machinations, and assassination are par for the course, much like his dramas.  Like many of his plays, "Executioners" has three very distinct acts.  Act one is the establishment of discontent, act two is the betrayal, and act three is redemption.

The Heroic Trio has undergone some changes since the first movie.  Wonder Woman is no longer the hero of Hong Kong.  Because of the wishes of her husband,  she has forsaken her destiny to become a housewife and mother.  She won't even use her powers because Commissioner Lau will get upset if she does.  However, as things get worse, the dormant fire begins to burn again.

Invisible Woman has also undergone a change.  No longer is she a victim, forced to do evil.  Now she is a tough as nails military officer.  When she wants to find out the truth about Mr. Kim, the truth about the polluted water, and the coup de eat planned by the military, nothing will stop her.  Not even her former friends.

Chat is still the money grubbing Thief Catcher she always has been.  Yet, you can tell that her soul has taken a beating.  She really wants to be the good guy, but it takes the sacrifice of an old friend to get her back on the right track.

Many of the characters straddle the fence between right and wrong.  Every character is faced with a moral choice. For example; Is it right to assassinate a person in order to bring peace?  Should you kill innocent people, just on the off chance that they may help your enemies?   A great tagline for the film would be "The road to hell is paved with good intentions".

Now, with all this plot and character development, you may be asking, is their any ass kicking?  

You better believe it.  The fighting abilities of our three stars are still awesome.  Added to the mix is Lau Ching Win and Anthony Wong, both from "Black Mask".  These guys can hold their own against these lovely ladies.

I really would have liked to have learned what happened between the two movies.  Why was their a nuclear war?  What were some of the great things they had done before the war? How did a former criminal become part of the military?  If any movie ever warranted a comic book, this "series" is it.

The subtitles are a little dodgy at time.  Pronouns get mixed up a lot, as do some adjectives.  While the errors are annoying, you can still understand what is going on. 

Executioners is a worthy conclusion to a all too short film series.  With plenty of action, great acting, and a tight writing, this film shows why Hong Kong cinema is so awesome.

Return to Top

Back to the Review Page