The Heroic Trio

Lore & Background

The film's plot involves an invisible person kidnapping newborn babies destined to be emperors, delivering them to the mysterious Evil Master. The police are powerless, leaving the city's hope in three women: Tung (Anita Mui), a mild-mannered police inspector's wife who secretly fights as Wonder Woman; Chat (Maggie Cheung), a hard-boiled bounty hunter known as Thief Catcher; and Ching (Michelle Yeoh), the Invisible Woman who serves as the Evil Master's troubled right hand. All three share a terrible past.

Reader's Guide

The Heroic Trio was promoted on release as a 'ground-breaking novelty for Hong Kong cinema.' Producer Ching Siu-tung used it to step outside his work with Tsui Hark, while Johnnie To developed it as a pitch to become accepted as a leading action film director. Critical reception was mixed: Tony Rayns of Sight & Sound noted visual similarities to Kirk Wong's Health Warning but found it less risky, praising Mui and Cheung's performances while calling Yeoh 'dispirited.' Variety called it a 'flashy kung fu superheroine adventure' with solid production values but 'disturbingly gratuitous plot elements.' Donald C. Willis described it as 'an amusing series of outrageous stunts.' On Rotten Tomatoes, it holds an 80% score based on 10 critic reviews, with an average rating of 6.8/10.

Did You Know?

• The film stars Michelle Yeoh, Anita Mui, and Maggie Cheung as the titular trio.
• The villain, known only as the Evil Master, continues to struggle even when reduced to skeletal remains, similar to Terminator 2.
• The film was followed by a sequel, Executioners, also released in 1993.
• Producer Ching Siu-tung used the film to try to make a name for himself outside of his work with Tsui Hark.