Executioners (film)

Infobox Film
name = "Executioners"


caption = Executioners DVD cover
director = Johnny To Ching Siu-tung
producer = Ching Siu-tung Johnny To Yeung Kwok-fai
eproducer = Zheng Jianping
aproducer = Brian Yip Jianmei Zheng
writer = Susanne Chan
starring = Michelle Yeoh Anita Mui Maggie Cheung
music = Cacine Wong
cinematography = Poon Hang-Sang
distributor = China Entertainment Films
Dimension Films (USA dubbed 1995)
released = September 30, 1993
runtime = 97 minutes
rating =
country = Hong Kong
awards =
language = Cantonese
budget =
preceded_by = "The Heroic Trio"
imdb_id = 0108606

"Executioners" (zh-tp|t=現代豪俠傳|p="Xian dai hao xia zhuan"), is a 1993 Hong Kong action film and a sequel to "The Heroic Trio", both films which were directed by Johnny To, starring Michelle Yeoh, Anita Mui and Maggie Cheung, returning as the main characters of the first film. Other cast include Damian Lau, Anthony Wong, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Lau Ching-Wan, Paul Chun and Kwan Shan.

Cast and roles

* Michelle Yeoh - Ching/San/Carol
* Anita Mui - Tung/Wonder Woman/Dorothy
* Maggie Cheung - Chat/Thief Catcher/Chelsea
* Damian Lau - Inspector Lau
* Anthony Wong - Mr. Kim
* Anthony Wong - Kau
* Takeshi Kaneshiro - Chong Hon/Coda
* Lau Ching-Wan - Ah Te
* Paul Chun - Colonel
* Kwan Shan - President

Plot Summary

"Executioners" reunites the main characters of "The Heroic Trio" in a dark, post apocalyptic story set in a world ravaged by war, torn by social and political strife and deperately short of uncontaminated water. The Wonder Woman (Anita Mui) is now the mother of a young girl, named (in the English dubbed version) Charlie; she's at first abandoned her role as a crime fighter in order to become a better mother and wife, yet even while walking her daughter home from the grocery store she can not let a water theft happen without stopping the thief and returning the bagged water to the would be victim with a brief display of her true prowess, to the delight of her daughter. The Invisible Girl, (Michelle Yeoh), has finally accepted her true role as a hero and strives to atone for the evil deeds she did under the influence of her former Evil Master in "The Heroic Trio", and has become an agent of change, striving to use her abilities to the good of society. She's gone so far as to become the tutor of the masked hunchback Kau, also the Evil Master's former servant, who had been lured into a blast furnace in Heroic Trio, horribly burned and disfigured, who yet retains his almost superhuman vitality and ability, yet no moral compass, other than his allegiance to her, in the hope of reforming him and showing him a better way, as she has herself through the help of the Wonder Woman and the Thief Catcher. The Thief Catcher (Maggie Cheung), is still up to her old ways, just trying to make a profit out of a bad situation, yet even she is starting to strive for a higher standard, and has come to realize that she is part of a team and has responsibilities to something greater than herself. The three heroes are forced to overcome devastating personal loss, conflicting loyalties and overwhelming odds to bring security and justice back to the people.

Trivia

*An idiosyncrasy of the film are the multiple names of the lead characters, especially in the dubbed version. The Chinese given names of the leads and Michelle's masked hunchbacked sidekick Kau as well are numbers bestowed by their former evil master [http://www.stomptokyo.com/movies/e/executioners.html] from "The Heroic Trio"; the leads also have alter ego identities, Anita is the heroic crime fighter Wonder Woman, Maggie is the mercenary Thief Catcher and Michelle is the enigmatic Invisible Girl. Yet while Michelle's character is referred to in subtitles and dub as Carol, in one prominent scene she's called Kira.
*The film's theme song, "A Woman's Heart," (lyrics by Chik Lam, music by Law Tai-Yau), also the theme of "The Heroic Trio", is sung by Anita Mui. [http://www.michelleyeoh.info/Movie/Ht/womanheart.html]

External links

*imdb title|0108606|Executioners
* [http://www.michelleyeoh.info/Movie/executioners.html "Executioners" at Michelle Yeoh Web Theatre]