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[Fantasia Film Festival] Unveiling the Hidden Truth: A Chinese Ghost Story 3’s Secret Reincarnation Links

Explore how A Chinese Ghost Story 3 subtly connects to its predecessors through the enduring theme of reincarnation and the nuances of cultivation.

Spoiler Alert

The original “A Chinese Ghost Story” trilogy (1987–1991) is a cult classic that stands the test of time. And at Fantasia Film Fest, the programming team decided to play A Chinese Ghost Story 3 on the big screen instead of the other two, which are narratively better than this chapter. The reason may well be because the third film was originally designed to be standalone. But for a long-time fan like me, these movies are connected because of what Daoism tries to achieve–cultivation. It’s like connecting to The Force in Star Wars.

But because reincarnation is a major theme that connects all three movies, there’s an implication that Fong (Tony Leung Chiu-waii) may well be an incarnation of Ning Choi-san. That’s how I read the introduction, which explains why this film jumped 100 years into this world’s future. When Yin Chik-ha, a Taoist priest, and Ning Choi-san, the scholar, are fighting the tree-demon again in order to banish it for a century, the setup feels obvious.

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White Snake 3: Afloat Needs To Surface in North America! Every Explosive Trailer Released.

The movie, White Snake 3, has made its debut in China, and hopefully the plan to bring this latest Light Chaser Animation to North America will be soon!

Release Date in China:
August 10th, 2024

Light Chaser Animation Studios continues to delight fans of the White Snake series with their latest entry, White Snake 3: Afloat (白蛇：浮生). While the literal translation of the title is “Floating Life,” “Afloat” or even “Rebirth” better captures the intended themes of renewal and emotional drift.

Whatever name you prefer, I can’t wait to see this next chapter! For those unfamiliar with the series, the first film is available online and on Amazon USA, while the second is streaming on Netflix. You can also check out my reviews of Part One and Part Two.

As for why these films feel disconnected, I suspect the North American distributor wasn’t aware this story was always intended as a trilogy.

This fantasy romance raises two big questions: Will the sisters reunite? And will Bianca (Xiao Bai, voiced by Zhe Zhang) see Xian (Tianxiang Yang) again? There’s a third thread too—according to the source material, the couple has a child! The ending of the first film teases this possibility, but in the sequel, Xian is sidelined when time travel complicates everything. During a climactic battle, Verta (Xiao Qing, played by Xiaoxi Tang) is hurled into a future that’s anything but welcoming.

In that timeline, the Baoqing Fox takes on a larger role in the chaos. While the trailers don’t reveal much about her involvement, what little we see is intriguing—and I’m eager to learn more.

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A Word to the Wise, Kung Fu Panda 4 Marks Po’s Passing of the Torch

The big question I have concerning Kung Fu Panda 4 is whether another streaming series will get developed to fill in the gap while waitiong for the fifth instalment?

Kung Fu Panda 4 Poster Spoiler Alert

Although the story about Po (Jack Black) is not quite at an end in Kung Fu Panda 4, I’m sure the showrunners have something planned as this six-part saga is coming close to ending. While the first film is partially about enlightenment and seeing a Panda as the reluctant hero, this one is ready to put him on the path of becoming like Oogway. It’s unfortunate all the character and world development from the televised series are not canon. I really want to see Nu Hai, Jing, Bao, and Fan Tong from Paws of Destiny again. Although not everyone will know these series are non canonical, it’s easy to spot the discrepancies.

For example, in Dragon Knight, Mr. Ping’s (James Hong) well-developed backstory is all for naught. Had he gone full on pirate, I’m sure he’d ruffle other feathers! Had he been determined, it would’ve surprised Po’s biological father, Pang (Bryan Cranston) and make for hilarious moments. These two stick around to provide the My Two Dads style comic relief.

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Kung Fu Panda: The Paws of Destiny Should’ve Been Canon!

Not everyone will be aware of this spinoff series that is exclusive on Amazon Prime. Kung Fu Panda: The Paws of Destiny is designed for a youth audience, and it’s just as fun!

Available to Stream on Amazon USA Prime

Out of all the televised spinoffs set in the Kung Fu Panda universe, The Paws of Destiny is a non-canonical spinoff that sees four kids–Nu Hai, Jing, Bao, and Fan Tong–take on the title. It’s deserves to be part of the cinematic universe for other reasons I’ll explain later. This instalment takes place after the events of the third film, where this team has to continue protect their Panda village. After Jindaio, there’ll be other invaders.

Although this review is many years late, it seems what I posted back when it was fresh disappeared; I’ve dug up my draft and updated it with a few new thoughts after a rewatch, and editing this document for flow. As full disclosure: what’s written predates knowing anything regarding part four.

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Look, Up in the Air, It’s a Flying Swordsman Coming to Home Video This Week!

Ultimately, The Flying Swordsman plays out like a video game on steroids, and those familiar with Bushido Blade may see similarities.

The Flying Swordsman DVD — **Available to pre-order on Amazon USA**

Well GO USA
Release Date: Jan 9, 2024

Hidden in some secret valley are untold riches, and for The Flying Swordsman (雪山飞狐之塞北宝藏 / The Hidden Fox) to find it, he will have to defeat other treasure seekers for it! They’re all after this pirate’s bounty, as I like to call it, but for Hu Yidao (Ben Ngai-Cheung Ng) who is the sacred guardian of an iron box that contains the key to finding this place, he won’t give up those secrets easily!

Emperor Tian Guinong (Gang Wang) wants it and even tries to trick this master into giving it up. However, the people he sends die, and time passes where its legend only grows. This setup is rather mighty, because without a knowledge of this history, this film feels like every other wuxia style motion picture I’ve seen. What’s different about this work is a storytelling technique rarely used. Lots of flashbacks reveal what was, as Tao Baisui (Ray Lui) embarks on the same quest. As for what’s presented, it’s a very stylish martial arts film where the heroes and villains are very much involved in a game of hunting each other down!

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Donnie Yen. Demi-God or Something else? Sakra (The Legend of Qiao Feng)

Overall, Sakra moves like a Chinese opera, and you really have to pay attention to everything that’s going on to make sense of it all.

Sakra Movie Poster Starring Donnie Yen Well GO USA
Coming to Select Theaters April 14
and Streaming online April 18

Donnie Yen‘s Sakra (or The Legend of Qiao Feng; 天龙八部之乔峰传) begins like a Western, the set-up reveals a Feudal Chinese world up in arms. It frequently asks, “Am I a bad person?”

Life in the frontier depends on Qiao Feng (Yen) to keep the peace. But when he’s accused of murdering his adoptive parents and some monks, the community wants retribution and instead of dispensing cowboy justice by hanging him, he voluntarily accepts being exiles, and for the remainder of the film, tries to get to the bottom of this conspiracy.

This adaptation of Jin Yong’s serialised fiction, Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, is different. At first, I thought there’d be the divine getting involved in mortal affairs, but what’s presented is a fictionalised world that’s almost akin to George Stevens’ Shane. Here, the tale concerns matters of loyalty and righteousness, but unless viewers know what saṃsāra means, what this film is about might feel confusing.

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