The Heroic Trio
The all-female Heroic Trio are Tung (Wonder Woman), Chat (Thief Catcher), a mercenary, and Ching (Invisible Woman). Initially, they're on opposing sides - the invisible Ching is kidnapping newborn male babies for her evil master, Tung is trying to solve the crime (rather more effectively than her policeman husband, who is unaware of her secret identity), and Chat, who was formerly employed by Ching's evil master, is trying to sell her services and inside knowledge to the police. But all three have something in common buried deep in their past...
Director
Johnnie To
Starring
Michelle Yeoh, Anita Mui, Maggie Cheung, Damian Lau, Anthony Chau-Sang Wong
Genre
Action, Fantasy, Thriller
My Rating
6.0 / 10
Format & Location
Format: 4K UHD
Location: Shelf
Date Added
August 3, 2025
Review
This review may contain spoilers.
Ryan Jerz’s review published on Letterboxd:
This was pretty fun. It had edits that made following along a bit difficult at first, but I fell into the vibe and had a good ride. It's cool to see some legends on screen together.
Now, this is some really morally ambiguous stuff. We're meant to sympathize with one character who has been stealing babies and another who's an amoral mercenary. The uniting for the common good ultimately wins, but I can't help but feel like this has a bit of a fascist undertone. We celebrate the cops, who have no problem sacrificing people to get one guy, while also celebrating vigilantes who also do crimes and seem to have no regard for the very, in this case, babies they're supposed to be saving? All of this takes place in a society that, if it's not full-blown, at least borders on a police state. Maybe not undertones as much as tones.
There are arcs, which ultimately redeem (to a degree) the main heroes. Only Wonder Woman appears uncompromised. Perhaps the sequel will shed some light on the remaining arcs. This left me feeling like I watched a pretty fun action flick that was propaganda underneath. However, I loved the stunts. I absolutely understand its status as a cult legend. All three leads were cool to see on screen. Overall, though, it wasn't quite great for me.
Ryan Jerz’s review published on Letterboxd:
This was pretty fun. It had edits that made following along a bit difficult at first, but I fell into the vibe and had a good ride. It's cool to see some legends on screen together.
Now, this is some really morally ambiguous stuff. We're meant to sympathize with one character who has been stealing babies and another who's an amoral mercenary. The uniting for the common good ultimately wins, but I can't help but feel like this has a bit of a fascist undertone. We celebrate the cops, who have no problem sacrificing people to get one guy, while also celebrating vigilantes who also do crimes and seem to have no regard for the very, in this case, babies they're supposed to be saving? All of this takes place in a society that, if it's not full-blown, at least borders on a police state. Maybe not undertones as much as tones.
There are arcs, which ultimately redeem (to a degree) the main heroes. Only Wonder Woman appears uncompromised. Perhaps the sequel will shed some light on the remaining arcs. This left me feeling like I watched a pretty fun action flick that was propaganda underneath. However, I loved the stunts. I absolutely understand its status as a cult legend. All three leads were cool to see on screen. Overall, though, it wasn't quite great for me.