| The prequel to God Of Gamblers, here we follow the early years of Ko Chun who is in fact one unlucky son of a bitch. We already knew he lost his memory, become childlike, had one wife raped after she died while another saw her unborn child cut out and left for poor Ko Chun to find in a jar. It's a serious case of deja vu (although reversed for us viewers) here as Ko Chun (Leon Lai) is betrayed by the master who taught him in order for the second best gambler in the group, Ko Ngo (Francis Ng) to gain the status of God of Gamblers. Miraculously surviving a headshot, the mentally unstable Ko Chun is nursed back to health by Seven (Anita Yuen) who once fell in love with him as a girl and has never let go of that crush. Along the way we see the origin story of the jade ring, how his love for chocolate started and how he met his future Vietnamese bodyguard Lung Ng. Wait a minute. Ko Chun and Lung Ng first met each other during the opening of God of Gamblers (events set later than this film) but Wong Jing argues that myth holds several versions of the same story. Poorly I might add. Wong Jing does know where he's in his element but God Of Gamblers 3 - The Early Stage is way too much rehash and precious little cinema punch. The production does alright for itself as it's blessed with cinematographer Arthur Wong and Wong Jing tries out some for him new stylish tricks such as split screen for his gambling scenes. But when even these lack dramatic tension, Wong Jing's desired combo of emotions and the occasional goofy outburst falls flat... from a high distance. Actors are merely on autopilot and Leon Lai could never be a younger substitute for the charisma of Chow Yun-Fat in the 1989 movie. Not even comedically. Anita Yuen could've fared well had there been something genuinely affecting for her to connect with in the story while Francis Ng realizes he can't do anything with that stupid, long haired wig over his face. Total failure and a 90s sign of Wong Jing losing his touch within a genre he ruled once.
Sole bright spot is a superbly cool Jordan Chan who is greatly aided by fun, violent action directing by Dion Lam and Ma Yuk-Sing. Also with Gigi Leung, Cheung Tat-Ming, Elvis Tsui, Frankie Ng and Moses Chan. |
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