Les Dieux du jeu 3 : Retour à Shanghai

The plot is pretty standard fare: guy with power (our hero) and his uncle gets sent back in time to 1937 Shanghai (from 1991 Hong Kong) when a group of super-powered "gamblers" (I guess), decides to whack him for him beating one of them in a gambling boat (or something). I don't speak Chinese, so I had to rely on the subtitles, and most of the times the titles (being in white font) clashes with the video background, hence making reading it impossible, so I'm just summing up as best as possible.

But the real treat of GOG3 isn't the plot -- like all HK action fare, the plot is secondary to the stunts. Needless to say, our hero must find a way home, but along the way, gets in the middle of history. Standard Back to the Future stuff, except with Chinese gamblers with psychic powers instead of a sports car.

What's really good about GOG3 is the comedy. Unlike a lot of its HK supposed "comedy" flicks, this one is actually funny! I've seen a lot of HK movies, and they are usually two things -- too over the top or just too childish. The Chineses, it seems, have a weird sense of humor -- and most of the time I find their "comedies" to be forced and low-brow. Certainly GOG3 is pretty low brow at times, but it's darn funny and campy as heck. Even if you can't understand what they're saying (as I couldn't), the pratfalls and "mistaken identity" that is so prevalent (and unfunny) in many HK movies is actually FUNNY here!

Check this movie out for a good time. Too bad most HK movies aren't nearly this funny.

(1991) God of Gamblers III: Back To Shanghai (In Chinese with English subtitles) ACTION/ COMEDY

After the Second "God of Gamblers" movie performed so well, the cast of Stephen Chow and sidekick Man Tat Ng return again, except this time the silly plot involves going back to the past to confront bad guys! Expect spontaneous sight gags that can sometimes be too over the top but work extremely well with this film except that it is not as funny as # 2! Ray Lieu, and Gong Li stars this time but their roles are somewhat minuscule. Co-written and directed by Wong Jing with the entire gambling takes place on a cruise ship.

The English title of this Hong Kong film is God of Gamblers III: Back in Shanghai. However, the God of Gamblers himself (Chow Yun-Fat) is not in the film and the story mainly centers around Chow Sing Cho the "Saint of Gamblers" (Stephen Chow). Here, his powers and his Uncle Tat (Ng Man Tat) causes Sing to inadvertently to travel back in time in 1937 to Shanghai.

While the premise for the film sets a potentially intriguing story, the gambling excitement, which is a must in these films, is lost, unfortunately, in the uninteresting time-travel subplot and the acting suffers from screwball jokes and goofy humor. Much of the action and "tense" moments in the film were overkill, I think, and some of the actors like the hilarious actress Wong Wan-Si was underused. There is not much suspense going on in the film, and the intrigue level does not match that of the original God of Gamblers and Saint of Gamblers movies because of the acting and slow-moving plot.

It's nice seeing Stephen Chow return to his role though, as well as him partnering up with Ng Man Tat once again and seeing lead actresses Gong Li and Sandra Ng make appearances. However, this is one of the less exciting God of Gamblers sequels and it won't hurt to skip over this one.

Grade D

Most people know Stephen Chow for his work in Shaolin Soccer and Kungfu Hustle. In this movie you can see that he tries to make a parody of a certain movie without disgracing the original. Also he tries to show some good martial arts. God of gamblers III is a lot of fun and has some great action and even some romance. Also it adds a lot of fantasy elements, which gives this parody (of God of Gamblers with Chow Yan Fat) an original twist. You have to get used to Chinese humor and in particular Stephen Chow humor. But if you have seen the original version(s) he makes fun off then you will enjoy this movie! A must see for Stephen Chow fans!