With the plethora of Chinese martial-arts pictures that have played at the Tower Theater in recent months, we were bound to get a clunker sooner or later. And "A Chinese Ghost Story III" qualifies.
Not that it's awful, mind you . . . just disappointing.
And not necessarily because it's a sequel. In fact, I haven't seen the first two in producer Tsui Hark's "Chinese Ghost Story" series, so I can't compare them.
But "A Chinese Ghost Story III" is a little too wacked-out and over-the-top for my taste. And far too gory, however cartoony that gore may be.
On the other hand, maybe I just don't get it.
The story revolves primarily around a novice priest named Fong (Tony Leung), who falls prey to a beautiful female ghost named Lotus (Wang Hsu Hsien). She is sent to seduce Fong and lead him astray — but he is so pure and good that Lotus becomes quite taken with him.
What ensues is a bizarre relationship, which Lotus must keep from the Tree Demon that sent her on this assignment, and which Fong tries to conceal from his elderly mentor (Lau Shun). Some of the best comic scenes come in the second half, with Fong's frantic efforts to hide Lotus in the temple, while the older priest searches for her.
In fact, the second half of the film is much more satisfying than the first, especially as the battles between good and evil — priests and ghosts — escalate into wild, soaring-through-the-air flights of fancy. But the first half is extremely grotesque, with sword fights that result in bloody dismemberments and decapitations — though phony and played for laughs — and with the ghosts using their tongues and fingernails as ridiculously elongated weapons.
The players are appealing, however, and when the zaniness slows down, Tony and Wang are particularly enjoyable.
Still, you'll have to be a major martial arts fan to get into this one.
"A Chinese Ghost Story III" is not rated but would get an R for violence, gore and profanity.