GOD OF GAMBLERS 3 - THE EARLY STAGE (1995) Produced, Written and Directed By Wong Jing Starring: Leon Lai Ming, Anita Yuen Wing-yee, Jordan Chan Siu-chun, Gigi Leung Wing-kei, Francis Ng Chun-yu, Chung Ging-fai, Cheung Tat-ming, Elvis Tsui Kam-kong

Reviewed by Ron Murillo

When a successful film series seems to have nowhere to go, either because of lack of inspiration for stories or the loss of a key actor in a signature role, producers sometimes feel it is the prudent course of action to go back, instead of forward, and tell an earlier story in the main character's life. This worked to an advantage in the A Better Tomorrow series, when twin brothers (both played by Chow Yun-fat) were killed in the first two installments of the series. The third entry, set several years before the first, told how one of the brothers established the signature traits that became associated with his character.

But Producer/Director/Writer Wong Jing is no Tsui Hark and, while he uses the back story of gambler extraordinaire Ko Chun as the framework for God of Gamblers 3 - The Early Stage, the result is less than satisfying.

The film opens in 1969 when Ko Chun, as a child, is rescued from being run over by the cart by a young girl named Seven, the daughter of Tai-chin (Elvis Tsui Kam-kong) a street hustler who had just stolen the jade ring of Ko Chun's maid. Five days later, Ko Chun is kidnapped by a crook named Beggar Kwai, but rescued by a gambler named Kent (Chung King-fai) who, after learning that Ko Chun's parents have been murdered, takes him under his tutelage. By 1986, Ko Chun, along with Kent's daughter, Hing (Gigi Leung Wing-kay) and Kent's other protege, Ngo (Francis Ng Chun-yu) are moving up in the world of high stakes gambling. Ko Chun encounters the grown Seven (Anita Yuen Wing-yee), whose father is now a triad boss. Seven still wears the jade ring around her neck and carries a torch for Ko Chun, but his plans include winning the World Champion Gambling Competition and marrying Hing. However, though he is winning, Ko Chun is asked by Kent to throw the competition in favor of Ngo, whom Kent has bet heavily on. When Ko Chun refuses, Kent shoots him in the head (at which point Ko Chun realizes that Kent was the man who murdered his parents).

At this point, Seven steps in to care for Ko Chun, aided by her friend, So (Cheung Tat-ming) and her bodyguard, a out-of-work Vietnamese soldier named Lone Ng (Jordan Chan Siu-chun, essaying the "God of Guns" character from the previous installments). When Ko Chun learns that Hing has married Ngo, he becomes childlike in his shock--the only food he seems able to consume being chocolate (another trait from the previous films). When Tai-chin runs afoul of another triad boss (played by Ng Chi-hung, best known as "Brother Bee" of the YOUNG AND DANGEROUS series), So brings the childish Ko Chun to battle for his friends' freedom in a gambling match. The game, however, is a diversion to enable Lone Ng into a position to defeat the triad and free the hostages.

Leon Lai Ming does his best with what he has and partially succeeds in adapting to the serious and wacky elements that pervade the God of Gamblers series. But Chow Yun-fat is a hard act to follow, and hampering Lai Ming is a script that basically reworks the first God of Gamblers, itself a takeoff on the Dustin Hoffman Rain Man film. Why Wong Jing decided to recycle a scenario that was so memorable in the first film, instead of going in a different direction (as the second film did), is baffling. The first half of the film is serious-with the only humor supplied by Cheung Tat-ming's rather silly sidekick character--but the second half gets bogged down with inane sight gags, like Seven and So cheerleading Ko Chun at a card game and Lai-ming trying to mug his way through his character's "regression" behavior. Fortunately, the dramatic tension returns in the last third of the film, as the God of Gamblers confronts his enemies and the loss of his lady love (it is interesting to note that, as in A Better Tomorrow 3, the signature traits of the hero stem from his romantic relationship with a woman). One wonders what a serious God of Gamblers film, perhaps along the lines of Casino Raiders, would be like.

There are twists and surprises in the showdown card game, but you get a feeling of deja vu watching it, because each of the God of Gamblers films end in the same way: a tense card game...the revelation of betrayal...and then Ko Chun's brilliant countermove. One could have hoped for a variation in the formula. As for the rest of the cast, Jordan Chan Siu-chun turns in a solemn performance as "Lone Ng," almost a homage to Steven Seagal. Anita Yuen Wing-yee tries her best to balance the comedic and dramatic parts of her role, but there is no chemistry between her character and Ko Chun. Like Lai Ming, she is left to play to the script. The other actors don't fare much better. Gigi Leung Wing-keiy is window dressing, having even less chemistry with Lai Ming than Anita Yuen. Francis Ng Chun-yu waltzes through another stock villain role, this time in a silly wig, and Cheung Tat-ming simply plays his part for laughs as best he can.