Title: Young And Dangerous 3

Year: 1996

Director: Andrew Lau

Reviewed By: Colin Odel and Mitch Le Blanc

Tung Sing Triad boss Camel Lok and his intensely cocky sidekick Crow decide it's time for a more hands on, or should that be hands off (ouch!), approach to running business. Fresh from Holland they shamelessly invade Causeway Bay and brazenly muscle in on Nam and the boys. Meanwhile Smartie recovers from her coma but has amnesia, Chicken rejoins Hung Hing from the bottom and has to look after the priest's bonkers daughter (Advice: Don't buy your condoms in the same shop that your girlfriend's father frequents).Meanwhile, Chiang is in serious Dutch negotiations that could prove detrimental to the health of all and sundry. Both Chicken and Nam are set up again, some school kids manage to intimidate our cuddly buddies (have they no respect?), and Banana Skin has still not improved his wardrobe. Grim prospects all round then�

Chicken gets the third different haircut on the trot but apart from that it's business as usual for our (relatively) mild mannered Triad friends. All fades to comic book have now vanished and there is a real sense that the series has settled in. This makes the unexpected deaths of two pivotal characters (we won't say which but don't read the cast list for part 4!) all the more jolting. Lau refers constantly to the film-making process (freeze frames, re-enactments of part one for Smartie's benefit, porno films) and occasionally questions Hong Kong's situation as 1997 approaches. Yes, the action is 'Western' pedestrian, when there is any at all, but that's to miss the point. It's more than likely that you're addicted to the series by now�

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