Rating: 8/10
Review date: October 7, 2003
Infernal Affairs II is the prequel to its predecessor which took Hong Kong by storm when it was released in 2002. This time the story revolves around the time period of 1991-1997 when the triad boss, Kwun, was assassinated. The power vacuum garnered the attention of other triad bosses while Hau (Kwun�s second son) attempts to take over his father�s business. Meanwhile the police are trying to prevent a bloodbath that might happen�
Infernal Affairs II really lives up to its predecessor by giving us more of what we wanted to see. We get to see how the two lead characters, Yan and Ming, ended up in different sides of the law as well as the circumstances that eventually culminate with Sam becoming the triad leader. The good thing is that you don�t have to watch the first movie to understand what�s going on although it would greatly help if you do.
Background music is used to perfection and it does play a rather important role in establishing the mood. The classical themes of corruption, betrayal and loyalty are present as usual and they are nicely integrated into the story.
The presence of Andy Lau and Tony Leung as Ming and Yan respectively is replaced by Edison Chen and Shawn Yue. This is undoubtedly a great loss but the two new actors certainly managed to portray their roles well.
Eric Tsang who plays Sam is arguably a nicer character than he was in the first movie although the change is apparent as he eventually becomes the triad leader. The opposite applies to Inspector Wong (played by Anthony Wong) where we actually see a darker side of his character.
Two new appearances this time are Carina Lau as Mary (Sam�s wife) who performs brilliantly (her character is quite central in the plot development) and Francis Ng as Hau who was able to look like a cold, smart and calculative figure, just like how a true gangster should be like.
Director Andrew Lau and Alan Mak are on their way to create a great trilogy which will revive the Hong Kong film industry and proving again that they are still the best at making urban police thriller/drama movies.
Infernal Affairs II is definitely darker, bloodier and arguably better than its predecessor even though some of its plot elements are already revealed since we know which character would live if one has seen the first movie.
The storyline is peppered with some minor twists which in turn are integrated closely with its characters thus showing that the script writers did do their job brilliantly. Seldom have there been cases where a sequel can actually live up to its original movie although Infernal Affairs II is an exception, let�s hope that the standard can still be maintained for the final movie in the trilogy.
Memorable quote (translated): �What goes around always comes around.�
-Francis Ng as Hau-
(c) Martin Taidy 2003