matthew d
Excellent martial artists fight with lion heads in gripping combat.
Tsui Hark's Hong Kong martial arts epic Once Upon a Time in China III (1993) is just as endearing, entertaining, and impeccably crafted as the first and second pictures from Vietnamese director Tsui Hark. Hong Kong could not have asked for a finer director than Tsui Hark as he seamlessly balances kung fu action with romantic comedy in Once Upon a Time in China III's absurdity.
Hark must have used every Chinese and Hong Kong acrobat to make Once Upon a Time in China III as the entire middle fight and finale are all out brawls with dozens of extras fighting while instead traditional lion head masks. It's like a game of King of the Hill, except brutally violent and fastly cut by editors Marco Mak and Angie Lam for 105 minutes of joy. Cinematographers Andrew Lau and Chow Man-keung move the camera down low and with odd angles to capture all the crazy fights in wide shots to enable the viewer to see all the insanity.
Jet Li's kung fu is always impressive with his ultra fast movements and versatile style. He takes the humorous energy of Jackie Chan and blends it with Bruce Lee's piercing accuracy and fearsome speed. Li is fun and admirable as the honorable Master Wong Fei-hung. He's hilarious alongside the delightful and lovely Rosamund Kwan. She's as flirty with Jet Li as ever and I adore their sweet kiss tenderly stolen against a steam filled backdrop. It's a beautiful moment in a series with many loving shots.
Furthermore, the shot of Hung Yan-yan's Club Foot Seven dragging himself to the door in the rain is poignant as you feel genuinely sorry for him by this point. Jet Li's stunt double sure could fight as Yan-yan flies around kicking with his powerful legs. Max Mok's goofy disciple Leung Foon is still so funny. Lau Shun is wonderful as Jet Li's father Wong Kei-ying. His first fight is as memorable as anything here. Chiu Chin is a riot as the annoying villain you love to hate named Chiu Tin-bak.
William Hu and Tsui Hark's score is exciting and tender with a warm tone throughout Once Upon a Time in China III.
In short, I enjoyed Tsui Hark's entire trilogy of Once Upon a Time in China films.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
03/31/23
Full Review
Audience Member
It's a step down from the first two, but it's still a lot of fun. Much more comedic and features a message that shouldn't be forgotten. The incestuous love triangle was a pretty strange addition though...
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
01/16/19
Full Review
dustin d
The law of diminishing returns in proven in the third installment of the Once Upon a Time in China series. The lion dance fight and the set piece in the middle in which Jet Li fights off a horde of baddies while slipping around an oily floor were great, but it lacked the larger-than-life set pieces and breathless story of the first, and best, film.
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
03/31/23
Full Review
camille l
Le troisième opus de la sage de Wong Fei Hung parle d'un tournoi de danse du lion, hautement incompréhensible pour les non-initiés. Il n'en demeure pas moins que le film s'en sort encore une fois grandement par les combats, encore une fois frénétiques et dévastateurs et surtout par le développement de ses personnages centraux : Wong Fei Hung, Leung Foon et surtout Tante Yee. L'histoire d'amour entre Yee et Wong Fei Hong (grâce aux interprétations parfaites de Rosamund Kwan & Jet Li) est clairement le point fort du film, aussi touchante que naïve. Clairement en deçà des deux premiers et avec son climax interminable, Il était une fois en Chine 3 reste un film parfaitement admirable.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
03/31/23
Full Review
Audience Member
With the first two entries providing mild entertaining action spectacles, Once Upon a Time in China III sounded like another spectacle of martial arts.
As was the case with the prior two entries into the Once Upon a Time in China series, the historical accuracy of Once Upon a Time in China III comes with real ambiguity. Considering that it is based on the legend of Chinese folk hero Wong Fei-hung, the actual reality of the stories seems ambiguous. By the point of Once Upon a Time in China III, any sense of belief has dwindled to the point that I wouldn't put much consideration into anything more than the film's action scenes. Unfortunately, Once Upon a Time in China III presents a new low point for the series in terms of both storytelling and action.
Once Upon a Time in China III is a step down from its predecessor. I never found too much favouritism for the stories in the series, but at least Once Upon a Time in China II presented another character worth following with the introduction of Nap-Ian Yun-seut. Having been killed at the end of Once Upon a Time in China II, there is no way of him following on into a third entry. The presence of Donnie Yen was a great asset to Once Upon a Time in China II, but there is nobody else worth keeping up with in Once Upon a Time in China III. The story in this film uses the same basic themes as its predecessors but also explores them very loosely in a tale abundant with too many characters and too few who are given all that much actual development. Even then it is rather melodramatic material, and given that I'm watching this film from a western perspective I fail to understand the historical relevance or importance of the story. Once Upon a Time in China III doesn't clearly explain the context in which its story is happening or the political structure of its society, so it ends up as another simple hero and villain narrative which becomes confusing any time it makes an attempt at anything else.
However, I wasn't expecting a groundbreaking story in Once Upon a Time in China III. I was more looking forward to the action sequences which ultimately did not satisfy the third time around. Frequently, the fight scenes in Once Upon a Time in China III find themselves with a scale too big to grasp. For example: the entire scene where Jet Li fights off three martial arts schools with what appears to be a sweater is all a very unfocused scene. It's difficult enough to believe that whipping so many swordsman with a sweater would sufficiently knock them back, but it's made all the more hard to comprehend by the nature of the visual style. The cinematography uses a series of long shots which remain in a single place without emphasising where the next enemy will come from, and the film cuts between this and various shots which use slow motion for the wrong purposes or simply depict the movement of stones on the ground. Most of the action in Once Upon a Time in China III depicts Jet Li engaged in fights with several foes who come at him from too many directions to keep up with, and while the man's remarkable fighting skills manage to keep his status as a powerful action hero on a high status, but it's the smaller-scaled fight scenes where Jet Li shows off his continuous skills against far fewer enemies which are easier to understand and therefore more entertaining. There are a couple of these in the film which really are entertaining, but the majority of the action in the film is really loose with its focus and that gets in the way of the strong choreography. The cast in Once Upon a Time in China III remain dedicated to the fight, but Tsui Hark loses track of the visual tenacity which his legacy is built upon. Once Upon a Time in China III is one film too many for the series, and its gimmicks have worn off by this point and become scattered to the point that it is the martial arts equivalent of Transporter 3 (2008), even though it precedes the film by decades.
To put it simply, Once Upon a Time in China III displays dedicated stunt performers and a visual grace that comes from the lavish scenery and production design they perform against the backdrop of, but the entire affair feels tiring by this point and there isn't enough visual tenacity to create anything all that memorable.
Jet Li remains an admirable presence though. With relentless dedication to the film in terms of character and action, Jet Li continues to shine brightly in the role of Wong Fei-hung. His genuine passion as an actor keeps him in a state of constant intense focus in the role, ensuring that he commands his line delivery with a strong grip on his character. But of course its the man's amazing martial arts skills which are the true source of brilliance in Once Upon a Time in China III. Once again the man jumps across the screen with remarkable flexibility and speed to his technique, packing a powerful punch and kick at anyone who comes across him. He remains strongly focused on all this without becoming emotionally aggressive, reminding viewers that he really is aware of what it takes to be a true martial artist. Once Upon a Time in China III may not make the best use of his skills, but it does remind us all that three times over he still never loses sight of his remarkable potential. Jet Li continues to make performance art out of his fighting skills in the Once Upon a Time in China series, and he remembers to keep the same focus when it comes to the actual acting.
Once Upon a Time in China III serves as another showcase for Jet Li's remarkable talents, but Tsui Hark's visual style fails to grasp the larger scale of action sequences which in turn makes the overly familiar narrative harder to ignore.
Rated 2/5 Stars •
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
01/27/23
Full Review
Audience Member
A not bad and passable 3rd installment to the "Once Upon a Time in China" film series.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
01/25/23
Full Review
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