REVIEW: ‘Drunken Master 3′ (1994)

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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 II (1994).

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 III. 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 II. (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 III from being at most a mildly entertaining effort.