Today on the menu we will be revisiting the third "Once Upon A Time In China", or as many of us think of it, the last OUATIC movie with street cred. After this one Vincent Zhao (aka Chui Man Chuk) took center stage as the great master Wong. He did an excellent job but the series seemed to lose its spark. This film was the last one with that spark. While it was dramatically less amazing than the two that preceded it, this one still manages to entertain and thrill while maintaining its overall feel and mythology.

This movie also features the introduction of one of my favorite OUATIC characters, Clubfoot, who is played by the highly skilled and severely underappreciated Xiong Xin Xin. That man is a beast and he brings sick amounts of intensity and vigor to the role of Clubfoot. I would have to say that an argument could be made that from the third movie on, Xiong Xin Xin was carrying the whole project on his back.

As my homegirl, Cinema!, stated in her review, the lion dances are beautiful, vicious and fun to watch, but the downside (like some other reviewers have stated) is that we wind up missing out on an intense one-on-one square-off like the first and second film. In the end of the first we get Jet Li vs. Wang Yu: legendary. In the second we get Jet Li vs. Donnie Yen: way sick. In the third we get: stiffed. That's not right, folks. If you got a good recipe that everyone can enjoy, you probably shouldn't tamper with the spices.

But despite a drop in various qualities and too much cousin courting, this film is still completely crucial in my eyes. Let's face it, all of the "Once Upon A Time In China" movies rock and this one is no different. Complete the collection and take in the struggle for China's independence and the adventures of legendary warriors. Or you can wait for the next big budget, trendy Hollywood fanboy fu drivel. Oooo, my friends and coworkers seem pretty excited about this movie called "Fighting". I saw a trailer and apparently these people I know are tools. It looks lame.

Stick with the quality classics that come directly from Asia and buy them here. Nobody paid me to write that, so I'm probably not blowin' smoke. Take care of what you can and make plans for all the other stuff. Be safe, folks. Peace.

The series only briefly touches upon the enormity of chaos and suffering, especially in the first film. I can accept this because it isn’t a documentary it’s designed for entertainment.

What you see primarily are lions and lion dances. I happen to love lion dances! Dragons are most impressive due to their size and intricate movements that must be made in order to create patterns (and not end up in a big pile of confused dancers holding poles) I do love the dragons but the lions are to me the most fascinating because of their small size they can be much more animated. If you like lions you will certainly get your fill! Naturally the contest features hundreds of lions and requires climbing a high tower to reach a tablet of gold giving Wong the opportunity to jump, kick, climb, spin and move in a variety of ways while trying to win the contest and let the officials know that the Chinese people are more than just greedy and ignorant subjects.

A sub plot involves a potential suitor for (Aunt 13 - Rosamund Kwan). He gives her a camera that can record moving images and in the process draws very angry and uncharacteristically impolite treatment from Fei-Hung. The camera turns out to have an important role in the scheme to assassinate Governor Li, and is more than just a prop as it was treated in "Once Upon A Time In China 2".

Although, as I said, I love the Lion Dance, it reaches a point where you really can’t tell what the hell is going on because of all the lions, parts of lions and flying pieces of lions, especially the heads, and too many tight shots.

I have to admit I simply did not get the same feeling from this movie as the original. While some write that off as “sequelitis”, it just doesn’t deliver the same impact. Jet seems pissed much of the time except for a rare moment or two with his lady love. I do hope people will watch the interviews and special features as it explains a few clues about the fourth and fifth installments of the series.

Although I am honored (and undeserving) when people contact me about details or info on films or actors/actresses it does take up a lot of my time as I feel obligated to help folks with their questions. And I am certainly no expert! I simply love movies, especially martial arts movies and find myself with questions I seek answers and try to remember them or keep them in a database. My point in all of this is that one reason part 3 didn’t seem up to the same quality was because of serious “creative differences” between Jet and director Tsui Hark. In fact Jet was so angry that he refused to do any more of the "China Series". The series was continued with four and five but without Jet. To me, it simply was not the same and I only watched them to be fair. Man Cheuk Chiu is very talented but Jet had already firmly established himself as Wong Fei-Hung and no one else could compare, at least in the OUATIC series.

Many people will say that Jet injured his back in the first movie but in reality he nearly broke his back while filming "Born To Defence". This was a very very early period in Jet’s career. As often in youth Jet felt he had to prove he could do it all and at the same time! He set out not only act and do master level martial arts, but do all his stunts, choreograph all the fight scenes, the script, direct and just about anything else required to make a movie. Things were not going smoothly prior to Jet injuring his back and afterwords it was much worse. That’s when his good friend (at the time) Tsui Hark came in to direct and help in a few other areas. I’m not sure why the rumour persists that Jet hurt his back in the first OUATIC movie, but no doubt he was in pain. I have the privilege of knowing some former stunt men and I can tell you those guys hurt somewhere all the time, even when they are not doing stunts!

Another rumour that still makes the rounds is that Jet fired his manager, Jim Choy. The truth is that Choy went up against the triads when they wanted control of Jet and his rising career which meant big time money. In retaliation and to continue to do business as usual Choy was slaughtered in a hail of bullets while in Kowloon, HK. Jet was tremendously upset by the loss of his friend and took a six month hiatus from working. That was when Jet set up Eastern Productions, his own company.

It shouldn’t be surprising that without Jet as Wong Fei-Hung the movies were considered inferior by many. Critics and fans alike wanted more of the same great action and they didn’t get it. Despite internal issues, this third movie is still darn good. You still see the fights and moves only Jet can deliver and it definitely held my attention. For those who are disappointed about Jet’s absence there is one more OUATIC, number 6, where he is back as good as ever. But then that’s another review...