Search - Fists of Fury III on DVD

One Sequel Too Many...

Decatur Redd | Decatur,GA | 03/02/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Okay...first of all, I added this one to my collection only because it was a childhood favorite waaaaaaay back in the 80's when I confused the Bruce Lee imitators with the Jeet Kune Do maestro himself. What we have here is the follow-up to Chinese Connection 2(aka Fist of Fury 2, which was one of Bruce Li's best performances and an actual sequel to Bruce Lee's Fist of Fury(Chinese Connection). Picking up where Chinese Connection 2 left off, Chen Shan returns to his hometown by train, returns to the home of his mother and little brother with the ashes of Chen Jun(Bruce Lee's character), finds himself in conflict with a local branch of the Japanese organization he shut down in Chinese Connection 2, the organization hires a Chinese martial artist, who's jealous of Chen Shan's association with a mutual female interest, to frame Chen Shan for murder and rape, Chen is arrested, the Chinese defect is exposed by "Uncle" Yen and his "daughter", the pair break Chen out of jail, Chen's little brother and mother are murdered, Chen mows down dozens of henchman in persuit of the interpretor(played by the late Wei Ping Ao)and winds up in a showdown with the Japanese boss. The plusses are obviously the action, the fact that like it's predecessor, it's an actual sequel to Fist of Fury, only this time around there's even a little humor in the mix. The negatives are also there, this film is an example of what happens when you go to the well one time to many and over-sequel a classic like Fist of Fury: Chen Shan returns with the ashes of Chen Jun's remains...but Chen Jun was buried in Chinese Connection 2, terrible dialogue, or at least it appeared so with all the bad English overdubbing, Yen is "uncle" one moment and "Mister" the next, the stroyline and plot are very weak and shaky this time around,and Chen Shan's character and disposition were alot milder and more passive(I mean come on, in the last flick he was a thinker, outspoken, and was killin' Japanese crime bosses left and right without blinkin') so while the action is there, the point is not. So in comparison to Chinese Connection 2, this one is no where near as much of a classic.Yet...it's a keeper for the climax alone...Chen Shan's avenging of his mother and brother in the rain are priceless...no wonder I was so convinced he was the real Bruce Lee when I was little. LOL!"