Os Quatro 3 - A Batalha Final

At this point in the trilogy, 'The Four III' will only make sense to those who have seen the first two chapters. Based on Chinese Malaysian author Woon Swee Oan's bestselling novel series 'The Four Great Constables', the series was meant to be a game-changer in the Chinese movie industry with its genre-bending mix of action, drama, romance and fantasy. Yes, the eponymous four under the charge of Anthony Wong's Zhuge Zhengwo formed the Divine Constabulary, so named because each one of them is blessed with superhuman powers.

For the benefit of the uninitiated, there is Cold Blood aka Leng Lingqi (Deng Chao), a former spy from a rival crime-fighting department known as Department Six previously sent to infiltrate the Constabulary and learn their secrets who has the gift (or curse) of transforming into a beast when provoked. He is in love with Emotionless (Crystal Liu Yifei), a psychic in a wheelchair who immediately recalls Professor X. Looking after Emotionless like an older brother is Iron Hands (Collin Chou), whose power is apparent from his name. And last but not least, there is Life Stealer (Ronald Cheng), better known for being a fast talker and a wine lover than for any particular standout ability.

There is a whole lot of backstory in 'The Four II' which proves critical to understanding the narrative developments here. Emotionless has learnt the truth behind her family's assassination as a child, which precipitates her disillusionment with Zhuge Zhengwo and Iron Hands, as well as to a certain extent Cold Blood. On the other hand, Cold Blood is caught in a love triangle with newly installed Department Six head Ji Yaohua (Jiang Yiyan), who is doing the bidding for a certain powerful Lord An (Yu Chenghui). Lord An wants revenge for his son An Shigeng (Yu Chenghui), the baddie from the first movie who is now grafted onto a tree for life. Oh, there is also a shapeshifter named Ruyan (Ada Yan) also doing Lord An's deeds, who sets in motion the chain of events in this third movie.

If all that read like a head-scratcher, you're not alone. Even those who have seen the second movie will probably need a refresher to call to mind all the convolutions that made up the scatter-haired plot, and which director Gordon Chan offers no abbreviation at the start of this final instalment. Instead, he and co-director Janet Chun plunge right into things, beginning with Ruyan's escape from prison which leads to a failed assassination of the Emperor (Alec Su) when he decides one day to come down from his throne and visit the city unannounced in order to get a better sense of his countrymen's woes. The Emperor survives, but is captured by Emotionless before he can get to the loyal Zhuge Zhengwo, and it should be no secret that the turn of events afford Emotionless the redemption she needs from her emotional baggage.

As loyalties are tested and traitors exposed, the relatively swift-paced conclusion builds towards an epic finale where the Department Six and Divine Constabulary join forces against the common enemy Lord An. It's a pompous special effects laden climax all right, where not only does each character get a chance to show off his or her skill but to work together as a team to defeat their most formidable enemy yet. We won't spoil the ending for you, but suffice to say that some will find the denouement – though logical – somewhat of a letdown, with Zhuge Zhengwo playing a crucial last-minute role to Lord An's annihilation.

Even though it is the best of the three, it is unlikely that 'The Four III' will satisfy anyone who has not caught the earlier two movies. If the middle section plays like melodrama, that's because Chan has the unenviable task of bringing closure to the myriad story threads that were left unresolved in the preceding chapter. And yet while it does manage to tie all the loose ends nicely, the intended poignancy of Emotionless' struggle between forgiveness and revenge as well as the romantic stirrings between her and Cold Blood will likely be lost on those who are encountering these characters for the first time.

But for those who have followed them from first to third, Chan's ensemble cast rewards your loyalty with their best performances yet. Deng finally settles into a more grounded character here, and he shares good chemistry with Liu, who in turn acquits herself well in her most emotive turn yet. Cheng brings some levity to the proceedings, while Chou is still sadly underutilised. It is always a joy to see veteran actor Wong on screen, who brings both dignity and gravitas to his supporting act as Zhuge Zhengwo – in particular, he shares a nice intimate scene with Liu and TVB actress Sheren Tang who has an extended cameo as Emotionless' guardian.

So despite the misgivings about 'The Four', this final instalment still manages to cap the trilogy at a high. In terms of storytelling, it is easily the most fluid, and in character development, the least clunky among the three. Those looking for some grand blockbuster action will still however be disappointed, as Ku Huen-chiu's choreography still leaves much to be desired amid the slightly improved CGI. Yet, it's as good a conclusion as one can ask for, so if it's closure you seek, then it's closure you'll get; everyone else need not bother.

As the third and final part in a series of films, anyone who decides to watch this one first will be pretty bewildered as to who's who and what motivates each character. Clearly then, as a stand-alone film, this wouldn't work.

Unfortunately, poor screen writing (or maybe translations - though, they seemed professional enough), didn't really do this film a great deal of justice either, as some excellent directing and photography are let down by what seemed like coincidences and a lack of suspense in a plot that could have had it by the bucket-load.

As with Parts I & II, the acting is good even if the dialogue is left wanting, and the action is well done - yet nothing we haven't seen before - with the CGI, for the most part, being on a Hollywood level.

I suppose what I'm getting at is that The Four 3 ticks all the boxes for a summer blockbuster-type film, but unfortunately, it also ticks that "Totally disposable entertainment" category, meaning that you'll probably only see it because you've already watched the other two, but it won't leave any kind of lasting impression.

The final movie of a trilogy concludes the whole story. The fighting scene at the end is amazing. The emotional moments brought tears to my eyes. You need to watch the prequels to enjoy this one.

I might have done the mistake of watching "The Four" and then not getting around to watching part II before moving on to watching part III.

In any event, it turned out that my expectations to "The Four III" (aka "Si da ming bu 3") were much higher than what director Gordon Chan managed to present in this movie. "The Four III" were nowhere near the vicinity of the first movie in any way, story-wise and action-wise.

While the story told in "The Four III" was adequate enough for what it turned out to be, it just wasn't outstanding or particularly innovative, and it merely just scraped by on characters already established in the first movie. If you have seen other Chinese movies in the genre that "The Four III" is in, then you have essentially already also seen this movie. Yeah, it just failed to differentiate itself from the numerous other movies already established in the genre.

Sure, it was good to see recurring cast return to play roles again in "The Four III", and they had managed to put together a great ensemble of cast for the movie. That much credit they should get at least. However, Yifei Liu and Anthony Wong were not given enough screen time, which was a shame, because they really could have bolstered the movie and lifted it up and out of the generic and mediocre place where director Gordon Chan had managed to put the movie.

But the entire movie was just weighed down heavily by the mediocrity of the storyline and the laziness to come up with something new, fresh and innovative. Writers Koon-nam Lui, Frankie Tam and Maria Wong seemed to play it safe and go with something that has already been seen and done countless times before in the genre.

The action sequences in "The Four III" was good enough, but it was hardly enough to sustain the rest of the movie.

I suppose this might be a good movie in itself to round up the trilogy, but it just wasn't a memorable movie by any means, and I doubt that I will be returning to watch it ever again.