A Better Tomorrow III: Love and Death in Saigon

Filipe Furtado5.0

Tsui Hark's big bildungsroman, although what is being teached, a state of being in a world that is karmic non-sensical, violent and taken by dirty interests isn't easy to swallow. It starts as a movie about how Anita Mui teaches Chow Yun-Fat how to be mr. cool and ends about how Vietnam teaches him to look at the abyss. Woo and Tsui have very different notions of the divine and that reflects in how they approach violence, there's very little of grace here, very little of the sense that a cleansing is possible, Tsui choose earth over God, an anarchic anger over grace and heroism. Not to say that there is any realism here (his images exist under an allegorical bent that remain as artificial than Woo's grace), or that Tsui approach is superior, it is just more plain and uglier, and any preference is a matter of taste. No one dies heroically here because Cheh's notions of brotherhood and heroism aren't Tsui's thing. Asia is a war-torn place of multiple imperialist interests. A Better Tomorrow 3 is the best movie I know about the Vietnam war because it is the only one about Vietnam as a place and the war as what it is been done to it. The Tiananmen protests happened as this was being made and one can sense how it informs a lot of its angry and confusion as much as Tsui's feelings for his home country. And this is a deeply felt film, the closest Tsui the anarchist jokester ever come to complete let his guard down in this it reflects Woo's work, naked emotion for very different means.

Rafael "Mister Movie" Jovine3.5

RESEÑA EN ESPAÑOL AQUIACTION! - TURN THE (TSUI) HARK UPTsui Hark’s follow-up to John Woo’s classic is a film that sustains much of the original’s dramatic weight while injecting Hark’s signature energy, which propels the film through many moments and ensures it’s far from a boring ride—even if it misses some of Woo’s magic touch.Chow Yun-fat still brings that effortless screen presence and coolness that carried over from the original. Anita Mui also gets her moments to shine (especially in that alley sequence with the machine gun) and every time she’s on screen, she very much commands attention. Together, they share a really strong chemistry that helps elevate their scenes and therefore the film as a result.The camerawork and editing are dynamic. Like I said, Hark never fails to bring a strong sense of energy that adds a good level of fun, especially during the few action scenes we get, which range from cool gunfights (the whole ending is chef’s kiss) to a handful of brief fight sequences—though the film leans more toward the former. It also leans a little too heavily into melodrama, which I can see not fully working for some people; I somewhat fall into that category myself. The writing also dips into cliché territory with its dialogue, though it’s all heightened by a solid score.All in all, while it’s nowhere near as great as the first two (especially the first) and the story leaves a bit to be desired, fans of the series and Hong Kong crime cinema may still find some enjoyment here. Seriously, those final 20 minutes or so slap hard.ACTION! - TURN THE (TSUI) HARK UPTODAY SCHEDULEThe Menendez BrothersWorking ClassA Better Tomorrow III

matt lynch4.0

"People don't have choices."We know these characters' futures, we know Vietnam's future, we know Hong Kong's future. There's no such thing as a better tomorrow.