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.
