Unreleated to the celebrated pork-bun movies, this titled sequel returns to the roots of the original film: a true crime drama with satirical overtones. Inspector Lee (Danny Lee) and his team (including Monica Chan and Cheung Kwok-Keung) look into the mysterious disappearance of a seedy loan shark (Ken Lo), but find no real leads. Amazingly, the culprits fall into their laps. Four young men, led by Wong Wing-Man (Sam Lee) confess to the killing. Apparently, they were deep in debt, and found the murder of their friend to be the only way out. There is one problem, though: no physical evidence.
     Like the first (but not the second) Untold Story, the events in this film are based on fact. Also like the first, director Herman Yau returns, and brings a darkly humorous touch to the proceedings. While not as outlandish as the original (it'd be hard to top that film), the events portrayed manage to be interesting, and Yau's handling of the events is engaging. He manages to bring some measure of humanity to even the most unlikable characters, and provides fine pacing and a satirical edge for an inherently sensationalistic story.
     If anything truly wrong exists with The Untold Story 3, it would be that the film is perhaps too understated. It doesn't overdo the sensationalism, and as such comes off as more of a quietly humorous crime flick. This isn't one of those Category III films that'll raise the roof (in fact, the film is rated IIB), and as such could slip under the radar of most. Still, Yau's efficient direction and the effective acting (Sam Lee is a remarkably good character actor) make this a worthy, albeit somewhat minor diversion. (Kozo 1999)