Producer: Jojo Hui

Overall it’s a wonderful film, a blockbuster people call it, and maybe it is, but really for us Asian movie fans this is what it’s all about – a hard hitting, hard punching film with a heart of gold and a fist of iron.

Samson Chiu can be congratulated for taking a bold step in a new direction while still retaining much of the gentle punch that is associated with the brand.

While it might not quite hit the heights it sometimes seems to be reaching for, it is still a touching and quietly rewarding meditation on friendship.

While certainly mounted on a sometimes epic scale and beautifully shot, Lau’s film disappoints due to rushed character motivations, unconvincing drama and an excessive use of slow motion.

This is not a flashy costume drama or a CGI enhanced flight of fancy but rather a gritty, grimy and quite often, an in your face epic.

‘Three’ is a bold idea, but one out of three is too bad. The follow-up, ‘Three… Extremes’ would do it all better.

With some excellent, grounded choreography and a number of allusions to genre legends this is a mature martial arts film that respects its roots.