Braddock: Missing in Action III (1988)

(In French, On Cable TV, November 2020) Chuck Norris once again heads over to south-eastern Asia in order to free up American PoWs in Braddock: Missing in Action III. As is often the case for third sequels of 1980s movies, the level of quality takes a nosedive here, although the opening sequence recreating the fall of the American Embassy in Hanoi is executed with decent production values. The big plot element of this third entry is giving a wife and child to the protagonist as a way to motivate him to head back in the country for more mayhem. It ends on a bridge between the two countries, something that would be echoed in many other later movies. Norris is equal to himself here, meaning that the beard goes hand in hand with the stoic attitude and not too much emotion in dealing with a long-lost wife and resentful son. You might as well watch the film if you’ve purchased the box set, if your streaming provider has it or if your TV channel somehow thinks a marathon of all three films is justified—it’s not that bad. But Braddock: Missing in Action III is really not worth tracking down for anyone but the most dedicated of Norris fans.