Armed Reaction III
(2001)
Cast :Bobby AuYeung, Ada Choi, Joyce Tang, Marco Ngai
Rating: ****
In AR3, with Esther left TVB, they replaced her with Ada Choi. I didn't have any expectations on AR3 because I don't think they could really continue anything further about its storyline esp. about Joyce and Marco. In the end of AR2, they already had kids and it seemed like they've been through A LOT. And as for Bobby,
they were just going to add a new love interest for him. Anyway, I think it's better AR2, though.
Summary:
Bobby/Ada/Ellesmere
After AR2, Ah Ngor (Esther) married to a doctor who took care of her son and she left HK. Wai Ying Zhi (Ada)
was a new traffic police and she was Sam Yuen (Joyce)'s subordinate. Ada and Siu Sung (Bobby)
didn't get along well because when they first met she thought he was trying to harass her.
There were also a few more times that she misunderstood him that way, so she really didn't like him.
Ah Zhi lived with her father (Ha Yue) and her grandmother. Her father was a mechanic, and he was one of
the reasons why Ah Zhi liked riding motorcycle and knew a lot about cars and stuff. When Ah Zhi was on duty,
she was very dedicated but can be rash at times. Ah Zhi met Winson (Ellesmere) when she went to her old
boyfriend's wedding day, then she started to like him. One time there was some oil on the street and she was
supposed to get there and do something about it, but on her way she thought someone was trying to steal
Winson's car so she went after that car instead and it turned out to be just a misunderstanding. As a result,
Ah Zhi was transferred to Siu Sung's unit. Siu Sung was doing a prostitute case and Ada had to go undercover
as a prostitute. During this undercover, her relationship with Siu Sung got better and they finally became buddies
when Siu Sung saved her from being raped. After this case Ah Zhi finally went out with Winson. Winson worked in
his father's company. He was always busy and sometimes Ah Zhi felt that Winson kept something away from
her esp. when he was unhappy. During these times, she hung out with Siu Sung more. Ah Zhi and Winson had a
fight more often but they managed to make up every time. Things got harder for Winson when ex-girlfriend, Maggie,
blackmailed him about what he did to company's account. Maggie was still in love with him and tried to keep him
away from Ah Zhi. She managed to sleep with him and taped it and sent it to Ah Zhi. Ah Zhi was very mad. Winson
was mad at Maggie and went to Maggie's apartment. They had a huge fight and he accidentally killed her.
On the other hand, Ah Zhi and Siu Sung started to have feelings for each other but they tried not to talk about it.
Winson and Ah Zhi made up and they decided to get married. Siu Sung knew that there was something wrong about
Winson. He and Ah Fung (Marco) worked on Maggie's case and Siu Sung suspected that Winson got something to do with it.
They managed to arrest him on the wedding day. After that Ah Zhi and Siu Sung still didn't get together. But finally on Ah Zhi's father's wedding day,
Ah Zhi threw the whistle in the air and said that if Siu Sung could catch it, she'll marry him.
Sam Yuen/Ching Fung
Sam Yuen was the team leader in traffic department but she didn't get along well with her subordinates at all.
They always talked behind her back because she was very serious about everything. At home she also tried hard
to encourage their twins, Sa Sa and Ka Ka, to study hard in order to get into a famous private school. Ah Fung tried
to talk to her that they shouldn't push them too hard but Sam Yuen didn't listen so he finally gave in because he didn't
want to have an argument with her. Then there was a case involving Bao Kwok Ping/Yung Man Seng (the guy who raped
Sam Yuen in AR2) He contacted with one guy called Ah On (also a psycho) by letters, and always told him to kill those
"impure" souls, which in this case it means prostitutes. Ah Fung told Sam Yuen not to get involved but she believed that if
she went to see Bao Kwok Ping, he might tell her something, so she didn't listen to Ah Fung's advice and went to
see him. As a result, she awaked the monster side of Bao Kwok Ping/Yung Man Seng. One day, someone sent a
present box to Sa Sa and Ka Ka, but when they opened it, it turned out to be dolls with blood all over. Sam Yuen
found the note from Yung Man Seng but she hid it from Ah Fung. Sam Yuen told Siu Sung and told Siu Sung that she
didn't want Ah Fung to know. Siu Sung, so, warned Ah Fung that the next target might be someone in his family.
One day, Sam Yuen and Ka Ka was walking down the street and Sam Yuen saw someone looked like Ah On, she
left Ka Ka alone and went after that guy but that wasn't Ah On. When she got back to the store, Ka Ka was disappeared.
Sam Yuen went to Fung's parents' apartment and someone sent Ka Ka back there. Ah Fung was mad and told
her that if something happen to their children, he wouldn't forgive her. On Ka Ka and Sa Sa's birthday, Siu Sung managed to decoded what Ong Man Sing told Ah On to do...that is to kill Ka Ka.
Siu Sung tried to contact Sam Yuen but her cell phone's battery was too low. Sam Yuen was with Ka Ka and they were on their way home for the birthday party, she stopped to buy something and she, again, saw Ah On and this time was a real Ah On.
She told the old lady at the grocery store to take care of Ka Ka and she ran after Ah On. Anyway, Ah On was nowhere to be found until she went
into some small alley Ah On appeared and shut the gate so Sam Yuen was trapped. Ah On took Ka Ka and walked away, leaving Sam Yuen crying and screaming.
When Ah Fung and Siu Sung got there it was too late. Sam Yuen managed to get out of there by herself. Next day, they all found out
where Ah On was, but when they got there at the warehouse, the only thing they could see was a suitcase. Ah Fung decided
to open it by himself and inside it was Ka Ka's body. Sam Yuen fainted and Ah Fung cried so hard.
After that Ah On was still no where to be found.They continued with the case, Ah Fung asked Siu Sung to send a false
code, telling Ah On to kill him. Ah On thought it was Yung Man Seng's message, so he came to kill Ah Fung. Ah Fung got beat up badly but when he thought of Ka Ka, he managed to
fight back. When he was about to kill Ah On, he thought of the vow he took when he first became a policeman and decided to arrest him instead.
As for Bao Kwok Ping, he ended up killing himself by jumping of the building. After all this incident, Ah Fung was mad at Sam Yuen and didn't talk to her much.
They finally decided to seperate. Ah Fung took Sa Sa and went back to his parents' house. For some time later, Sam Yuen was sick when she was supposed to take Sa Sa out,
so they all went together. Ah Fung saw that Sam Yuen was sick so he went to her apartment and told her to have some sleep then he cooked and did all the housework for her.
Then there was the last case where Sa Sa was kidnapped in front of Ah Fung and he couldn't do anything about it. He was kinda LOST it and Sam Yuen had to give him some support. And he told her that he understood how she felt
about what happened to Ka Ka now. They made up and finally they could save Sa Sa.
Review:
AR3 was pretty good esp. the cases, some of them are very entertaining and can be very exciting. Definitely better than AR2 in my opinion.
Everybody gave a good performance. Ada added a very fresh element into the show. She was very funny and cute. Bobby's still as
funny as ever. Joyce's acting is good but I think her character getting more and more irrational in every sequels. I don't understand why can't they make her character likeable. Her character didn't act like a professional at all.
Marco's acting is still very good as a caring father/husband. Ellesmere's acting was all right, nothing special. Overall, I still like AR1 the best because there was something missing in AR3.
I think they spent time developing Ah Zhi and Siu Sung relationship a lot that they forgot to develop Ah Zhi and Sam Yuen's relationship as close friends. Some might say it's not that important but I really
miss the feelings that Ah Ngor and Sam Yuen always hang out together and talked to each other. For Sam Yuen and Ah Zhi, it's more like a team leader-subordinate relationship.
Another thing is that isn't this series supposed to be about police women?? All the big cases in the seriess were solved by men. Sam Yuen and Ah Zhi didn't do much help. Anyway, besides these flaws I think AR3 was still very highly entertaining. Not as good as AR1 but
definitely better than other cop seriess lately.
Note : TVB owns the right to the picture above