My Cultural Diet

The third Once Upon a Time in China still finds China grappling with the ramifications of modernization and Western influence. In order to promote Chinese traditions, officials announce a national lion dance competition, which only leads to violence and corruption as ambitious men try to take advantage of it for their own ends. Naturally, Wong Fei-hung (Jet Li) finds himself in the middle of it all. National pride isn’t the only thing on Wong’s mind, though. His relationship with Siu-kwan (Rosamund Kwan) continues to deepen, leading to the possibility of marriage, but the arrival of a foreign suitor throws a potential wrench into those plans. And of course, there’s yet another conspiracy that needs undoing. Once Upon a Time in China III contains enough storylines for three separate movies, and as a result, is pretty muddled compared to the previous two films — and less enjoyable as a result. In particular, Max Mok’s antics as Wong’s impetuous student Foon were annoying in the previous film, but they’re pretty grating here. As for the martial arts, even those feel lacking here. The lion dances are certainly vibrant — kudos to cinematographers Andrew Lau and Chow Man-keung — but they’re edited so frenetically that watching them becomes physically exhausting after awhile.

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