The Heroic Trio

Babies are disappearing in Hong Kong. A figure living underground is taking them, planning to raise a future emperor. Three women intervene: Wonder Woman, who has a cloak of invisibility, Thief Catcher, who works on a motorbike for money, and Invisible Woman, who works for the side taking the children. The three share a past, and the audience does not know it at first. Johnnie To directs, with Ching Siu-tung on the action. Anita Mui, Maggie Cheung and Michelle Yeoh take the parts. What it is known for is that casting. The three most recognised actresses in Hong Kong cinema at the time are in one film, and all three lead the action. The mixture of genres is deliberate: superhero film, wuxia wirework, horror elements and fantasy together. The plot logic is not tight, and that shape was common in Hong Kong cinema. The visual world is dark; the city is never shown in daylight and the underground passages are nearly gothic. Its later influence was large; it found a cult audience in the West and counts as an early instance of the female action lead. The same team made a sequel the same year. Who it is for: viewers who like nineties Hong Kong action and genre mixtures. Who it is not for: the plot is inconsistent, the tone changes from scene to scene, and the material involving the babies is far harsher than expected.