Executioners

It pains me to have to post a negative review of EXECUTIONERS starring, as it does, the three greatest female action stars produced by Hong Kong cinema. But this film is a dark, bleak, muddled and frankly boring mess of a film.

This is probably not helped by the appalling "Engrish" subtitles of the Universe DVD release, which includes gems like:

"When the time comes you'll be retaliated" "The world is belonged to us soon," and the classic "You're immutable"

As I watched film I found myself asking "Who's that?" and "Why did that character do that?" and came away at the end not really understanding what was going on. Was the city everyone lives in the only habitable place on Earth? If the city had no water, why didn't people just leave?

Too many questions and sadly not enough answers.

Unlike other reviewers here, I'll say, "If you enjoyed HEROIC TRIO stay well away from EXECUTIONERS ..." My rating of 4 stars is because Anita Mui elevated anything she appeared in, even this piffle.

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.

I've always loved the 80s trend of a sequel being completely different from the original, such as RAMBO compared to FIRST BLOOD, or SEASON OF THE WITCH to HALLOWEEN I & II, and especially apt here, MAD MAX to THE ROAD WARRIOR, where the sequel suddenly takes place after a nuclear war in a post-apocalyptic hell, which is what happened here in EXECUTIONERS. However, this is not a warriors-of-the-wasteland flick, but instead, a strange futuristic fantasy fight film where the Heroic Trio must face not only their own personal challenges but also a society devastated by war and a massive water shortage. Johnnie To returns as director to co-direct with Ching Siu-tung (A CHINESE GHOST STORY), and while the action is just as good as the original and I did enjoy the bombed-out post-apocalyptic city setting, the personal drama of the characters was pretty weak (Mui being a mother was a dumb addition) and not all that interesting. Outside of that, EXECUTIONERS is worth watching if you enjoyed the first film.

The Heroic Trio is a great Hong Kong action film. This is a fact. Executioners isn't quite as good but might be more interesting - set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, filled with crazed corporate owners, assassinations, bandits, and renegade military personel, this is a film that has a lot of ambition. It's also deeply flawed, if only because it's a bit messy and many of the characters' relationships and plot lines are confusing. But it does have some remarkable action scenes, great performances again by Yeoh, Mui, and Cheung, and a surprisingly dark ending that works very well. Anthony Wong also has some fun as the villain, a madman who owns the water company(!). He's completely unrecognisable behind the makeup and iron mask he wears, but he's having a good time. If you like The Heroic Trio, this is well worth checking out. It's not that film's equal, but it is an above-average action film in its own right.

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.