'Once Upon A Time In China And America (1997)' is the sixth entry in its series. It sees the return of Jet Li after his two-film hiatus, and swaps out Tsui Hark for Sammo Hung in the director's seat. Set in the United States circa the turn of the twentieth century, the film sees Wong Fei-Hung, Ghost Foot Seven and 13th Aunt (but not Leung Foon) reunite with Toothbrush So after he left China at the end of the first film. So has set up a clinic in just outside an American town with a racist mayor who demands all Chinese people stay in their own corner and not be seen interacting with the rest of the townsfolk. Before Fei-Hung and co can reunite with So, they pick up a struggling stranger called Billy who becomes an unlikely ally and are then attacked by Native Americans. This splits the three apart and results in a bout of concussion-related amnesia for Fei-Hung. Narratively, the rest of the affair is kind of messy, as it basically tries to smush two separate plots together and also covey how poorly Chinese immigrants were treated in the US. It's a real shame that two thirds of the runtime is essentially wasted on the amnesia side of things, because it's really tired and uninteresting and exactly what you expect it to be. The movie becomes a lot more thematically interesting when it shifts focus to its criticism of corruption and the scapegoating of minorities. Thankfully, the feature has plenty of exciting set-pieces on both sides of its memory-loss storyline. These energetic action scenes are easily the best thing about the affair, and Hung's expectedly strong direction places emphasis on the pain and power of each individual blow (kicks send people flying across the frame on a regular basis). It's a different approach to Hark's more poetic style, for sure, but it isn't ineffective in conveying the martial arts prowess of its characters and keeping you glued to the screen as they knock your socks off with the ways in which they knock each other into next week. The final act features some really exciting moments that make excellent use of fast-paced choreography, high-flying wire work, confident camera work, and inventive scenarios that see the Chinese heroes creatively use hand-to-hand techniques against American villains who wield long-range weaponry. In the end, although the story isn't massively compelling and some of its quirks take time away from areas that are more interesting, the feature keeps you entertained for its majority and is well-executed in almost every area. Apparently, it caused conflict between Sammo Hung and Jackie Chan because the latter accused the former of stealing idea of doing an Eastern Western in which the hero loses his memory. Whether or not the theft occurred intentionally, you can see where Chan is coming from. This may be why he never made another movie with Hung, even if they reportedly patched things up (further evidenced by the fact that Hung briefly turns up in 'Around The World In 80 Days (2004)' as Wong Fei-Hung), and that's a real shame. However, it doesn't take away from this movie and there fact that it's far better than it could have been. It's probably the weakest in its series that I've seen, but it's still an enjoyable time with plenty of action-based highlights.
