Weird Wednesdays: The Heroic Trio

In addition to being a Hyperreal Film Club presentation, this screening was part of the Alamo Drafthouse’s Weird Wednesday series. For upcoming shows, click here.

After reaching new commercial heights throughout the ‘80s, Hong Kong director Johnnie To continued his unpredictable streak with The Heroic Trio, a high octane action film about three women who team up to take down a baby-thieving Evil Master (Yen Shi-Kwan), who plans on raising the stolen children in his diabolical image.

Wildly unpredictable and chaotic from start to finish, The Heroic Trio strikes a balance between grim plotlines and slapstick humor. To unflinchingly embellishes The Heroic Trio with cannibalistic children, decapitations, and one psychotic sewer-dwelling eunuch with a stupid amount of power in one moment, and then offers lighthearted reprieves the next. It’s kitschy and overly silly at times, but also relentlessly twisted. With The Heroic Trio, To crafted a Charlie’s Angels precursor fit with campy stylistic elements akin to early Batman films and Power Rangers. The plot holds a thin veil over the action film that prioritizes escalating fight scenes and throwing babies through the air. Deploying mysticism and superhero tropes, To’s influence can be seen in action offerings decades later.

At the center of To’s story is three women (The Heroic Trio in question), played by Hong Kong royalty Maggie Cheung, Anita Mui, and Michelle Yeoh. These icons hold the film down even at its most delirious, and, as ever, are truly a joy to watch interact on-screen.

The first of the trio we meet is Tung a.k.a. Wonder Woman, played by the late Cantopop diva Anita Mui. She plays the wife of a well-respected Inspector Lau, playing the role of housewife during the day and vigilante hero by night. In a similar vein to Faye Wong (Chungking Express), Mui took several turns on the silver screen when she was not gracing stages, most memorably in Stanley Kwan’s ghostly romance film, Rouge. In The Heroic Trio, she brings a sense of righteousness and composure, leading both of her confidants to the right path. Mui radiates warmth in this role, offering an empathic center for her community and partners in justice.

Michelle Yeoh really needs no introduction in the year 2023, as the Oscar-winner’s international star continues to rise 40 years into her career and 30 years after she starred in this film. She boarded The Heroic Trio following her brief retirement in 1992, picking up the role of Ching a.k.a. San a.k.a. Invisible Woman. Yeoh’s given the most complex character from the get-go, as she’s first “seen” stealing babies for the film’s big bad while donning an invisibility cloak. Her own sense of morality impedes her continued service for the Evil Master, who took on the role of her guardian long ago.

Yeoh gives the deeply traumatized woman an air of melancholy, carrying the emotional heft for The Heroic Trio. For the Invisible Woman, life takes more than it gives, and she’s found herself under the thumb of the Evil Master even as others found ways to escape. Under the tutelage of Evil Master, she’s the most skilled fighter of the three, and laden with the most striking reasons for taking him down.

Then there’s Cheung as Chat a.k.a. Thief Catcher, a fiercely independent trickster who follows her own code. Watching The Heroic Trio, it’s easy to understand Olivier Assayas’ need to make Cheung his muse, and three years later he would reference the film in Irma Vep. From then on, Cheung would maintain an enigmatic, subtle presence on screen (as pivotally seen in Wong Kar-Wai’s In The Mood For Love), before exiting the industry altogether. However, in The Heroic Trio she’s lively, physically dynamic, and a defining source of the film’s humor. As someone who’s only seen her later career works, watching Cheung cruise around on a motorcycle and launch herself through the air on an oil barrel was a pleasant surprise, showing off an entirely different side of her acting abilities. It’s Maggie Cheung in leather, what’s not to love?

All in all, each lead brings their own distinct presence to The Heroic Trio, even after coming together as a united force. To’s magnetic feature is a thrilling entry in the “women kicking ass” genre, helmed by Mui, Yeoh, and Cheung. It’s hard to believe To wrangled the three of them together for the outrageous flick—much less a sequel—until you see it for yourself.