While the third movie in the "Once Upon a Time in China" series were better than part one, but wasn't up to part two story-wise, then this third installment did manage to hold its own. While it was very weak in storyline, it more than made up for the shortcoming in action and Chinese lion sequences.

It seemed like the storyline was rushed through and that most of the movie had a script that was just made up as director Tsui Hark went along with shooting the film. But luckily the impressive action and martial arts were more than making up for it. It should also be said that there is a lot of scenes and fighting sequences with Chinese lions. So take that into consideration if you might have a problem with that.

Jet Li delivers quite well once again, despite not having much of a solid and proper script to work with. So "Once Upon a Time in China 3" (aka "Wong Fei Hung III: Si wong jaang ba") seems mostly like a showcase for Jet Li's martial arts skills.

This is not one of the brightest moments in Hong Kong cinema, nor in Tsui Hark's directing career.

"Once Upon a Time in China 3" is a movie mostly appealing only to fans of Jet Li.

The third film in the Jet Li series is very much a minor movie in comparison to the first two, with a plot that simply rehashes the old East-meets-West theme, throws in some very average comedy, some nice romantic touches between the two leads, and some enjoyable action sequences. One thing missing from the previous adventures is Yuen Woo-ping, who went elsewhere, leaving the action choreography to somebody else. The resulting fight sequences are just as lavish as before, but more obviously involve wire work; this time, Li is a superhero who can jump ten feet in the air and there's a villain called Iron Foot who can fly with his feet.

The story is pretty unchallenging, involving an evil factory owner and a Russian agent with a dark secret. Props feature strongly, this time a camera and those Chinese dragons, which take centre stage at the film's climatic Lion King contest. This climax is a bit of a disappointment, as Li and his opponents are hidden inside massive dragon costumes for the most part, and it lacks the dramatic power of a one-on-one battle like the previous movies offered. However, Tsui Hark does offer something a bit more original and what it lacks in dynamism, it makes up for in sheer visual spectacle.

Rosamund Kwan is probably the best thing in this film, having some very sweet moments with Li, who is good but appears to be going through the motions; it's no wonder he left the series, as he's had no character progression for two movies now. One actor who is very good indeed is newcomer to the series Xi Xi Xiong (DOUBLE TEAM) as villain Iron Foot, who has some fantastic wire-aided action moments and is easily the most memorable thing in the film. There are some 'fun' martial arts bits that make use of some imaginative scenarios. One has Li on an oil-slicked floor dodging missiles, whilst another sees him battling swordsmen using only his coat. There's a bit of blood and guts (including a pretty shocking mangled leg shot) and the classic Wong Fei-hung theme music is back infrequently. Although this film offers absolutely nothing new to the series or the genre as a whole, Hark's lavish choreography and production values make it a very agreeable viewing experience.

This sequel is set in Beijing; the Dowager Empress has decided to stage a lion dance festival to show off Chinese martial arts and encourage more people to take up kung fu. As preparations are getting underway Wong Fei-hung, along with 'Aunt' Yee and Foon, arrive in Beijing to visit Wong's father. He is the head of one of the martial arts schools hoping to compete in the festival... however the leader of one school is trying to bully all of the others into backing out of the competition. Inevitably Wong gets involved as he tries to encourage peaceful behaviour. In the background to this Wong is jealous after Aunt Yee meets up with a Russian friend she first met while studying in Britain. As the festival approaches tensions rise further and there are more intense fights.

This film is a fun addition to the 'Once Upon a Time in China' series of films; it has a decent, if simply, story, plenty of laughs and a lot of brilliantly choreographed martial arts. The three main characters are back, although for some reason 'Aunt' Yee becomes 'Cousin' in the subtitles of the version I saw. There are also good new characters, notable Clubfoot (renamed Iron Foot),the villain Chiu Tin-bak and the Russian Tomanovsky. As said before there is lots of impressive martial arts action; some of this includes obvious wire-work but that didn't bother me; much of it also takes place while the characters are in their lion costumes which looks pretty cool. The romantic subplot provides a few decent laughs without distracting from the main plot. The acting is pretty solid throughout; most notably from Jet Li and Rosamund Kwan as Wong and Aunt Yee. Overall I really enjoyed this and suspect most fans of less brutal martial arts films will enjoy it too.

These comments are based on watching the film in Cantonese with English subtitles.