LOVE AND DEATH IN SAIGON is the third instalment of the A BETTER TOMORROW series, but lacking John Woo who went off to make his own Vietnam-themed movie, BULLET IN THE HEAD. The Woo film turned out to be one of his masterpieces, wheras this is more of a potboiler and a bit of a disappointment given what came previously. There's something about Tsui Hark's movies that I just can't get excited about, and that's true too of this one, which feels overlong and drags during the middle part of the running time.
There's nothing particularly bad about it, and the love triangle between central characters Chow Yun-Fat, Tony Leung and Anita Mui is certainly enough to keep you watching, but it's never as involving or as exciting as it should be. The action is minimal and highly stylised, Hark staging shoot-outs at night which are too dark for the most part, although the crazy Tiananmen-influenced climax is a highlight. Shih Kien's touching relationship with the young Vietnamese guy Pat was the highlight of this film for me.
There's nothing particularly bad about it, and the love triangle between central characters Chow Yun-Fat, Tony Leung and Anita Mui is certainly enough to keep you watching, but it's never as involving or as exciting as it should be. The action is minimal and highly stylised, Hark staging shoot-outs at night which are too dark for the most part, although the crazy Tiananmen-influenced climax is a highlight. Shih Kien's touching relationship with the young Vietnamese guy Pat was the highlight of this film for me.