Now last year I reviewed 2002's Infernal Affairs, the Hong Kong original of The Departed. I liked it as much, if not more, as the American version. So just like I was surprised at a possible sequel of the U.S. version, I was taken aback to hear that in 2003 Infernal Affairs 2 was released. All I could think was one simple question....WHY GOD WHY? A sequel just isn't needed. After some quick searching, I happily discovered that Part 2 was actually a prequel. Still unnecessary, but a little less painful in my opinion. So skeptical though I was, I checked it out mostly because the original was that good.
The obvious problem though with a sequel, and it is certainly in effect here, is that if you've seen the first movie -- in this case Infernal Affairs -- you know where the story should and most likely will end up. You know going in which characters will survive, which twists and turns will come before they actually happen. It's not all bad though. Seeing one character work in a different situation than the one you know is an obvious bonus. How do they change sides? How do the manage to pull the twist off? At its worst, that's the movie's main problem. More or less, you know how it is going to end before it starts. Yes, there are instances that flesh out some character background, a throwaway line in the original that ends up being a key piece of the puzzle. But as cool as some of those things were to hear and see them fit together, my fear was realized. This is an unnecessary movie no matter how enjoyable it may be.
Here's the gist of the story. What took place in the original in the span of about 10 or 15 minutes is expanded into a feature-length film. Washed out of the police academy, Yan (Shawn Yue) is approached by a police inspector, Wong (Anthony Wong Chau-Sang), to work deep undercover with the triad gangs, specifically up and coming mobster Hau (Francis Ng), with whom Yan is half-brothers. On the police force, the triads similarly have a deep mole they're using, a rising officer named Lau (Edison Chen). From deep inside their positions, they do their best to take the other (Yan the mob, Lau the police) down. Their predicament gets worse when Hau looks to be preparing for a mass takeover, eliminating all his opposition as the passing of power in 1997 takes place.
Setting up the premise of the two deep undercover rivals in the first one -- both aware the other exists, just not who -- the jump in time forward worked. It showed that years passed, both men carved an important niche out for themselves, and now they're in a position to make something of it. Even having seen the first one, I was lost in the first 40 minutes as everything was laid out. New characters were introduced, new situations, and I felt like I'd missed something. It didn't help that Yue and Chen bear a striking resemblance to each other. I found myself consistently getting them confused, only then wondering "Why is the deep undercover guy walking around a police station?" Oh, my bad I guess.
After making their brief appearance in Infernal Affairs, Yue and Chen do return here to play the younger versions of the characters as they grow over a 6-year span. The only issue is that neither young actor makes their characters very interesting. Both men are just there as everything happens around them, occasionally looking worried or shocked. Part of the problem is that their predecessors were so strong, making each man complicated and basically, a real human being with worries and fears that are just magnified working in such a dangerous profession. The rest of the cast does not disappoint, especially Chau-Sang as Inspector Wong, Ng as triad leader Hau, Eric Tsang as rising mobster Sam (also in the original), Carina Lau as Mary, Sam's longtime girlfriend who also has something with Lau, and Jun Hu as Supervisor Luk, Wong's immediate supervisor on the force.
All negatives and criticisms aside, this is too good of a movie not to recommend. The story manages to keep it interesting even knowing the general direction it is heading. The music is memorable, the set pieces exciting, and the action startling and unsettling. It brings you into this dog eat dog world. Scenes of characters meeting in secret to avoid being detected bristle with dialogue that shows how frazzled they've all become. The ending is nearly perfect too, putting all the pieces in place for the original Infernal Affairs. Scarier than all that? There's a third movie, and yeah, I'll probably check that out too.
Infernal Affairs 2 <---trailer (2003): ***/****
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