A Moment of Romance III (1996)

Certainly better than II

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.

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