Tin joek yau ching III: Fung foh ga yan

Andy Lau and Wu Chien Lien return for the third and final part of the Johnnie To produced saga, with the man himself taking the helm as director, delivering a film that is pure Johnnie To and like the adopted brother of the series.

Set in 1938 amidst WWII, Lau plays a fighter pilot of the Chinese Airforce who is forced to ditch in a field of a farming community, who help nurse him back to health. It is here that he meets Wu Chien Lien, who soon falls for the war hero in another tale of forbidden love!

Part 3 is a lavishly shot, period drama, that carries more romance than the previous two, that of which is helped by its setting. While the script and story may be pretty generic, Andy Lau and Wu Chien Lien (along with To), make the best of it and provide a decent film with some nice war action, and plenty of tear-jerking drama. While not my favourite, part 3 still looks amazing and definitely has its moments, with Alex Fong adding to it in his role.

The chemistry between Lau and Wu is undeniable, having joined forces in the first Moment and starring together the year before this, in Ringo Lam's, The Adventurers...

Overall: Completely different than its predecessor's, part 3 is totally a Johnnie To movie that entertains, but ultimately is a love story!

Rather than offering a retread of the original film as the first sequel did, A Moment of Romance III goes in an entirely different direction. Don't expect motorcycles racing down the streets of Hong Kong, Taking the basic set-up of the first and transplanting it into a romantic period piece under the cover of a Spielbergian visual aesthetic. Despite the overly hackneyed set-up, the film proves to be decent fluff, jettisoning director Benny Chan in favour of the series' producer, Johnnie To who provides the film with plenty of lavish production values. While the script and story may be pretty generic, To makes the best of it and provides some nice war action and plenty of tear-jerking drama. Although he's seemingly set in brooding mode for most of the runtime, bringing back star Andy Lau was a great move as the chemistry between him and the returning Wu Chien-Lien, also on top form throughout, is undeniable. Eventually, everything gives way to your standard "choice of love" type deal with one of our two parties running to a romantic reunion. Ultimately A Moment of Romance III is extremely sappy but anyone chasing pretty stars and heart-wrenching pathos will not be disappointed, it's certainly a more worthwhile time investment than II.