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Good things come in three, right? Except when it comes to Hong Kong movie trilogies that recycle the same basic story line over and over again.
PLOT
Two Hong Kong undercover policemen - Chi-yuen played by Louis Koo and Kin-hang played by Aaron Kwok - infiltrate the cartel of drug king So-chai, played by Sean Lau.
After a shootout against the police at the docks after recovering a shipment of drugs from the bottom of the harbour results in Chi-yuen’s cover being blown and Kin-hang being seriously injured, So-chai rescues him, and they escape to the Golden Triangle on the Thai/Myanmar border to lay low.
But So-chai is all about making money, and he learns that the local army commander is his ex-supplier and controls the entire meth and heroin trade in the area. After finding a way to get onto his payroll, So-chai continues to expand his business interests until Kin-hang makes a call back to Hong Kong, where the combined forces of the Hong Kong Police and the Royal Thai army hunt down and destroy the drug operations, and arrest So-chai.
TALKING POINTS
Honestly, I feel like I have seen this movie before. Hong Kong drug lord escapes to Thailand to lay-low and builds up a new empire, while the army comes and destroys it. It must be one of the standard Hong Kong movie plots now.
Herman Yau can direct action scenes - but can he direct action scenes that make sense? The gun fight are chaotic and the edits are so fast, it’s really hard to keep track of what’s going on. And some of the gun fights are quite a few minutes long - these aren’t as exciting as you think. In fact, fatigue kicks in pretty quick!
Louis Koo and Herman Yau have featured in all White Storm movie so far. Sean Lua, who plays a very good if over the top bad guy, is back for his second film while this is Aaron Kwok’s first White Storm film. But could he be too cool for these types of action movies? I don’t buy him as an undercover cop, but then I remember his role in Project Gutenberg and I am reminded that he can play a crook really well!
And can Louis Koo please pick another type of role? His filmography is just padded with films like this - and I struggle to remember what any of them are about.
Yet again this movie is another example of why Hong Kong needs new blood. All the regulars are in this except for Philip Keung and Louis Cheung - they must have been busy? It’s very weird not to see them alongside Louis Koo.
I mentioned the action scenes are chaotic, but sometimes they are also fun. However, there is an abundance of CGI and digital blood spray effects. While CGI allows for bigger and bolder action scenes without the environmental damage, you have to wonder if it’s worth it considering how fake it looks!
What are my overall thoughts?
Not the worst modern co-production action movie, but the Chinese censorship tentacles are all over the end of this film. Where as a western movie would kill the bad guy, the Chinese movies arrest them instead. Pretty lame I think.
2 stars.
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Genre Action
Director Herman Yau
Starring Louis Koo, Aaron Kwok, Sean Lau
Original Title 掃毒3︰人在天涯
Country of Origin Hong Kong and China
Release Date July 8 2023