Infernal Affairs II

When you see the first Infernal Affairs movie, you leave with a sense of closure. Obviously the movie is a bit off canter as it's a Hong Kong flick; however, the story is over. There's allot of violence. There's allot of smoking. There's allot of bad music. But that doesn't mean it's a bad movie. In fact, it all ties together really well. Then we see the Prequel (which in fact is the Sequel, but set before the other movie) Infernal Affairs two is a delectable little piece of HK culture at a time where Hong Kong was moving from British rule back to the open arms of China. (HK was a British colony up until 1997) - During this time there was allot of tension between the people of HK and both the Brits and Chinese. Would it go smooth? Would the government fall apart completely? Would the Triads (The big bad ass gangs of HK) take over? We're re-introduced to the main characters, and we see the relationships building between them. We see how each of the young boys grow in the ranks of their chosen side, whether it be good or evil. You see the tension growing, as these boys grow into manhood, and the frustration and preservation of self. You see them fighting an internal battle of "Who Am I?" and which raises the questions of who to trust. Some people have trouble with these movies the first time they see them. Either they are wound up with the images, or not paying enough attention to the words, or both. I recommend watching each one twice before the next, and take some time to think about each one. I'm sure you'll enjoy this movie as much as I. Evil prevails. Only the good die young.

Reminds me of that old Elvis song, 'Gimme one for the money'. Really, coin seems to be the only point to this film. It provides a back story to a part of the original that we didn't need or ask for. The two main characters in this film were both secondary characters in the original so they were hardly requiring this excuse for a film. Now don't get me wrong, its an ok movie, it just doesn't really add anything that important to the Infernal Affairs universe. Think of it like doing a back story on Jar Jar Binks, if that happened would you think dollars??? Or artistic integrity. Haha you know the answer :)

The first Infernal Affairs was great - no wonder Martin Scorsese remade it into The Departed. Infernal Affairs 2 is okay but isn't in the same league as Infernal Affairs. Overly complex, and multi-stranded, plot, and thus less engaging. Direction is solid though, and performances are OK.

What set Infernal affairs off from other gangster films was the unique cat and mouse angle that it had. I genuinely sweat it out as the two opposing moles went to work. To compare the first film to the first Godfather film would be wrong. To compare Infernal Affairs II to The Godfather II is much more accurate, and therein lies the problem. It's a terrific film, only it is a bit derivative. Derivative is not an adjective that I would ever use in describing the first film. I am truly anticipating Scorcese's take on that classic. I gave Infernal Affairs I 10 stars and I truly cannot wait to see Scorcese's take on that film. He is the true master of the genre.