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.

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.

Watchable for Michelle Yeoh, Maggie Cheung, and Anita Mui, but a big step down from the first film, The Heroic Trio. The post-apocalyptic plot is a muddled mess, the action too often centers around big shootouts instead of martial arts, and the three leads aren't together enough on-screen, an early scene in the tub and a few battle moments notwithstanding. There is also a dark, dingy aspect to the cheap sets that makes it visually unappealing, which is pretty tough to do given the cast.

The story progression for Mui's character is less than satisfying, as it uses the device of her being separated from her screaming child several times, we get syrupy scenes after disagreements with her husband the mayor, and then she ends up in prison for too long. Meanwhile, Cheung's character goes off searching for water in the dystopian hellscape, but it's with a rival (Ching Wan Lau) and (inexplicably) the child, leading to further overwrought moments. The little girl was adorable and all, but her character was a liability, all the way up through the final battle.

As in the first film, there are some bonkers bits, like the gunning down of some nuns who've administered medical aid, or the squeezing of a rat to drink its blood in prison. Yeoh's character also uses a whistle to control a man who's turned into half-animal, presumably from the radiation, though his fate set to swelling music was overly melodramatic. It wasn't that I wanted more of these over-the-top moments, but at least when they were on the screen the film had a little edge.

Still, despite all my complaints, the three leads have such screen presence that the film held my interest. I just wish it had been a better vehicle for them.

Johnny To's action/fantasy classic The Heroic Trio wasn't exactly helped by its convoluted plot and cloying over-sentimentality, but was made watchable thanks to its many bonkers action sequences; the sequel, Executioners, shares the first film's weaknesses, but lacks its exuberance and wackiness, making for a much less enjoyable experience overall.

The film is set in a post-apocalyptic future where evil genius Mr. Kim (Anthony Wong) controls the city's only supply of uncontaminated water. Together with the help of a corrupt general, power hungry Kim leads a coup d'etat against the President, but his plans for total domination of the city are thwarted by The Heroic Trio (Maggie Cheung, Michelle Yeoh and Anita Mui), who come out of retirement to battle the would-be despot.

With much of Executioners' running time dedicated to establishing its politically unstable environment and detailing Kim's scheme to seize power, the film doesn't leave much time for action, meaning that those who enjoyed the first film purely for its energetic lunacy will find themselves less than satisfied with this effort; even when the action does eventually kick off in the final act, it doesn't come anywhere near to the sheer craziness of The Heroic Trio.

The film's leading ladies are still worth watching, of course, with Cheung looking particularly sexy in her fishnet stocking and suspenders, but even with the appeal of three high-kicking Hong Kong hotties, Executioners isn't anywhere near as good as its predecessor.