ChikPapa
Very disappointed :(
SeeQuant
Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction
Asad Almond
A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.
Claudio Carvalho
In a world devastated by nuclear war, the powerful Mr. Kim (Anthony Wong) owns the supply of water to a city. He plots a coup d' etat with the Colonel (Paul Chun) to overthrow The President (Shan Kwan) and they use Inspector Lau (Damian Lau) and the religious leader Chong Hon (Takeshi Kaneshiro) to set in motion an uprising. Tung-Tung (Anita Mui) is imprisoned, but Ching-Ching (Michelle Yeoh) decides to protect The President and the Bounty Hunter Chat (Maggie Cheung) seeks potable water with her nephew Cindy and the agent Tak (Lau Ching Wen) that is loyal to the President. "Jin doi hou haap cyun", a.k.a. "Executioners", is an awfully lame, melodramatic and messy sequel of "Heroic Trio" that I have not seen. The screenplay and situations are muddled and stupid, like for example Tung- Tung drinking rat blood in a moment and removing the door of her cell later. Another example, Inspector Lau brings his annoying daughter Cindy to the bus station to leave the child alone in a crowd. Or Tak, who does not swim, but dives in an unknown water spring. I could number lots of nonsense plot holes in the story.The choreography is dreadful and the fights and action scenes are terribly edited. But maybe the worst is the unpleasant character Chat, who is the stereotype of a stupid woman. My vote is two.Title (Brazil): "Heroic Trio 2"
Aaron1375
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.
Matti-Man
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.
contronatura
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.