Young & Dangerous 3

Your basic Hong Kong action fare pits two rival factions against each other in a series of tireless confrontations, with the big, violent showdown at the end. This, the third installment in the Young and Dangerous crime saga, finds Crow (a beefy Roy Cheung), the sergeant-at-arms for the Tung Sing triad, scheming to expand his boss's empire by chipping into the Hung Hing triad's turf. Standing in his way is Nam (Chang Yee-Kin), the sullen leader of Hung Hing's gang.

More than half of the film's 98 minutes are spent without a single blow, as Crow relentlessly provokes Nam. Cheung's maniacal, over-the-top performance is entertaining, but after the fifth and sixth near-brawl, the plot begins to sag into sheer monotony. Ultimately Crow gets things back on track when he sadistically orchestrates the hit of Nam's boss in Amsterdam, framing Nam in the process and setting up the final, all-too-predictable revenge scenario. Cheung and Yee-Kin give the film legs to stand on, but director Andre Lau's fight sequences are annoyingly chaotic and poorly choreographed. John Woo or Jackie Chan this is not. Screens at the Copley Place Thursday at 5:30, 7:30, and 9:30 p.m., Friday at 1:45 and 3:40 p.m., and next Friday (September 12) at 11:45 a.m. and 1:45 and 3:45 p.m.

-- Tom Meek

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