At the turn of the century China, The White Lotus Sect has given the sinister Manchu Emperor Yuan Shi Kai an opportunity to become the Emperor of China. To get the kingdom, Yuan must possess a jade ring- but he's given it to his fiancee Princess Sum Yu (Lee). Yuan sends his servant (Liu) to retrieve the princess and escort her to the coronation, but she is taken hostage by the revolutionary Yeung Kwan (Lau). With the Emperor's men hot on their trail, the revolutionary must use his kung fu skills to prevent the coronation.

With some truly monumental fight scenes, this hyper-kinetic addition to the series is expertly helmed by Lau Kar Leung ("Disciples Of The 36th Chamber").

It is here that DM3 falls into the familiar setting of the other films of the series. Miscommunication, out-right lies, and mistaken identity are again common place. Add to that a scene that was gratuitously lifted by Sam Raimi for this year's Spiderman. The scene shows Andy Lau clinging to ceiling rafters while Gordon Liu's evil general stands below. A drop of blood almost hits him but is skillfully fended off by Ki-ying. Later on, Michelle Li tries to pass herself off as a man on a cross-country trip with Fei-hung. Then later, there are lies about her being pregnant (another plot idea taken from DM2) for attempted comic effect. This film seems content on piling absurdity on top of absurdity until the entire production almost collapses under the stress of its own narrative.

Only after the one-hour mark does the audience get treated to any sign of Michelle Li's human qualities. Before that, she is bitchy and bratty, often threatening to have people castrated or shot when she becomes queen. She is lightened up considerably when a group of children help her realize that being queen won't bring her happiness by itself. A very well done scene in a film that was in need of one. I know, sounds like one of those corny warm and fuzzy moments, but I will continue to be a sucker for them.

Willie Chi as Fei-hung is no Jackie Chan or Jet Li, but few are. He has the boyishness of Chan's character down, but lost is the physicality or even a hint of the stoicism or nobility of Jet Li's adaptation. I think I should note that the presence of so many other characters also serves as a testament to Willie's lack of star power. Chi offers fans of the character only a hollow grin which would be fine if you movie wasn't so centered on he and Michelle's bickering relationship.

As traveling companions, Chi and Li have more of a brother and sister appeal. Fei-hung seems more interested in his skateboard (?) and Li is too winey and self-obsessed for any believable sparks. Having said that, it's obvious Fei-hung still has a hero streak in him, as witnessed by a totally odd fight between him and gay bus passenger Simon Yam during the ride. The fighting style here I can only describe as Homo Fu. At the same time, Yam exhibits either greater martial arts skills than I expected or excellent faking skills. The lengthy match is nonetheless ruined because it soon gets reduced to window dressing status in favor of Li's hi-jinks involving wine-maker Lau Kar-leung and a bunch of pregnant women.

Then finally, all the good guys in the movie and all the bad guys in the movie clash in familiar Drunken Master style. This time it happens during some wacky Halloween celebration put on by those happy-go-lucky patrons of the (dum. . dee. . da . . dum!) White Lotus Sect. Andy Lau gamely appears again just in time to fight with Gordon Liu in a confession booth (?). Pretty soon everyone is strutting their martial stuff.

Despite all the references and links to the series, there really isn't any alcoholic advantage given to the fighters. Ironically, maybe a buzz would be more beneficial to the audience instead of the performers. A good time waster, not much more.

When Jackie Chan and Liu Chia Liang clashed on the set of 'Drunken Master 2' Liang decided to take flight and make his own version of what he envisaged as a follow up to the Wong Fei Hung classic. The story for the film is a fairly clouded one which concentrates on the political battles of the time period and really fails to produce anything of any substance. It was obviously rushed into production to try to beat Jackie to the punch and this is apparent when you sit back and analyse the plot along with the minimal characterisation. The narrative begins to trail off, particularly in the middle, and it turns into something of a comedy/farce affair with little or nothing of any interest happening until the finale when we get to see some enjoyable kung fu from three great stars; Liu Chia Liang, Gordon Liu Chia Hui and Andy Lau.

The main problem with 'Drunken Master 3' is that with so much talent on board you would expect to see a much better film but everybody is so under-used. Couple this along with the fact that the supposed major star power, Andy Lau, is barely in the film (it amazed me that they managed to accumulate so much out-take footage of him for the final reel) and you have a seriously lacklustre movie. The only saving grace has to be some of the well choreographed action, especially the fight between Simon Yam and Willie Chi, but even this is fairly bland in comparison to most of 'the Pops' previous work. It's watchable but definitely not a true sequel to the 'Drunken Master' legacy...

Apparently, there was a major spat on the set of Drunken Master II between Jackie Chan and (then) director Lau Ka Leung. Chan wanted to use more wire fu, but Kau wanted to keep the fights more realistic. Eventually, Lau left the set and Chan finished the rest of DMII himself. So it could be said that Lau wanted to do DMIII as a kind of slam to Chan, as in "look what I can do." To his credit, Lau is a great martial artist and has appeared in a number of the classics of the kung fu genre. But this movie just stinks, at least compared to the previous Drunken Master movies. Andy Lau captures neither the schoolboy giddiness of Jackie Chan or the dead-on seriousness of Jet Li (as popularized in the Once Upon a Time in China series) and as such makes a weak Wong Fei-Hung. While there are some good fight sequences (particularly towards the end), it's a case of "too little, too late." By that time, the viewer is so confused (if they don't know some HK history) or bored (through useless meandering, including the dreaded mandatory romantic subplot) that they won't care if wires are used or not. And did I mention that Wong doesn't use the Drunken Fist style? That's right, this is a Drunken Master movie with no drunken fighting.

Drunken Master III is a decent kung fu movie, but when held up to part 2 (which to me is the pinnacle of martial arts movies) or Lau Ka Leung's work on great movies such as Pedicab Driver, it's pretty horrible. It's worth seeing if you're a completeist, but the average viewer is mostly likely to be put off halfway through. I think someone on a newsgroup put it best: "it looks really great as part of a best of tape."

Actually, given the costumes, period, and semi-political bent of the film, it seems to take Peking Opera Blues as a model more than the Drunken Master films, which is fine. The plot is a convoluted mix of royalty and revolution, with statements on foreigners and cults thrown in for good measure. While the story may be something of a mess, and the finale typically abrupt, the film is fun to watch, with a huge cast of charismatic Hong Kong stars. One particularly unusual fight finds one of the heroes fending off a gay challenger on a primitive, slow moving bus. Eventually he tries to counter with what can only be called "gay fu." Hardly politically correct, but certainly something I've never seen before.

VIDEO:
The widescreen video is ok, but far from great. A good deal of dirt and occasional video flaws mar the print, as does a general lack of sharpness and color. It could be worse, but it ain't great.

AUDIO:
The audio is also weak. Soundtracks are available in 2.0 Mandarin and 2.0 Cantonese, with burned in Chinese and English subtitles. Most of the sound is a bit muffled, although one track emphasizes treble while the other is more muted (don't ask me which is which).

EXTRAS:
There are no extras.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
While the title may have been a marketing ploy, Drunken Master III overcomes the inherent disappointment in it's not really being a Drunken Master film with wit, energy, and sense of fun.

REVIEW:
The once great director, Lau Kar-leung hits an all-time low in his most recent and convoluted film that undeservedly follows the superior and unrelated DRUNKEN MASTER 2.

The film's greatest asset, the cast is almost completely wasted. First, as director and actor, Lau Kar-leung has been been involved in some of Hong Kong's best martial arts films for over two decades, including such Shaw Brothers classics as "36th Chamber of Shaolin" and "Dirty Ho." More recently, Lau was tapped by Jackie Chan to helm and co-star in his sequel to "Drunken Master." Although Lau appears in the completed version, he actually had left the production before completion, apparently over creative differences with Chan. Rumor has it that Lau set out to make his version of the sequel that ended up as "Drunken Master 3." While the principle character Wong Fei Hung is present, the film otherwise bears little resemblance to Chan's films. In this, "DM3" suffers greatly. Chan's trademark humor is replaced with a number of tired situation comedy sketches that never really generate laughs. Poor Willie Chi has some big shoes to fill as Wong Fei Hung and his role expectedly ends up as one of the worst portrayals ever. His martial arts performance is extremely average and his only trick is to ride an abacus like a skateboard. Trust me, its not anywhere near as funny as it might sound. Even Lau's presence on screen cannot help the situation much.

Michelle Lee gets perhaps the best role, probably because no one expects her to do any martial arts. Yet even she is unable to generate laughs or sympathy as the woman torn between two worlds. Adam Cheng ("Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain"), who always oozes charisma onscreen turns in another throwaway role as Fei Hung's father, proving that Hong Kong rarely knows how to capitalize on its best assets. I don't even want to talk about Simon Yam's juvenile display as a homosexual who takes a fancy to Fei Hung. It leads to the worst choreographed fight of the film. Andy Lau's character is unnecessary and Gordon Lau's antagonist role is undermined by a completely hokey subplot involving the White Lotus Sect, lead by a teenage Caucasian male who looks like he stepped off the cover of a "New Kids on the Block" album. The film also has the most contemporary look of any film involving Wong Fei Hung who incidentally lived around the turn of the twentieth century. One surreal scene involves a Halloween costume party that the White Lotus Sect engages in, complete with ghoulish masks and sparklers (?).

Martial arts fans will definitely be disappointed since even the best fights pale to anything seen in DRUNKEN MASTER 2. (The outtakes alone prove it.) To be fair, the film really has no relationship to the former. There are a few good bouts, usually involving Lau Kar-leung. Also, Lau's experience in the industry does him credit in the film by the fact that even a floundering story and mediocre action cannot stop DRUNKEN MASTER 3 from being at most a mildly entertaining effort.

Drunken Master 3 stars Andy Lau as the hard drinking Yeung Kwan, a young rebel on the run from a troubled past. Yeung and his friend (the great grand son from Drunken Master 2) must protect the beautiful Sun Yu (Michelle Reis), Sun discovers her life is under threat from the sinister White Lotus Cult, who thrive on human sacrifice.

Yeun Kwan is determined to guard her life and keep her safe from the evil sect.

This fist busting Chinatown Kung Fu will leave Kung Fu fans spellbound and newcomers to Chinatown in amazement: the action in Drunken Master 3 is practical unparalleled. The extremely well choreographed fight scenes feature some great rooftop kung fu. Drunken Master 3 also serves up an interesting plot with a lot of twists. Andy Lau basically dominates this movie. Do NOT let the lack of Jackie Chan deter you from seeing this movie.