On the Edge

Infernal Affairs 1 ½. Young & Dangerous 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7.

The Gist

After completing his duties as a mole in the triad world, Nick Cheung Ka Fai returns to being a cop, a real one with the uniform and all. He gets Anthony Wong Chau Sang as his partner, the cop who harassed him when he was a mole. The rest of the movie showcases how Cheung adjusts his life to being a real cop again.

What Do I Think?

Fans of the Infernal Affairs will know that the Tony Leung character, a mole in the triad society, dies just after he got reinstated as a real cop. Questions were posed: how would his life lead to if he did not die? Director Herman Yau tries to answer them in this film.

Here, Cheung explores the possibilities of life in the brighter world after long being in the darker depths of the underworld. It is what every mole longs for but can they take it when it comes to effect? The answer is yes but mostly, no.

I have always thought that these sort of cops would be send to a place faraway from the turf he used be in. Cheung is posted to patrol the place he used to take charge of when he was a gangster. He walks into the night clubs and his former cohorts show them what feelings of betrayal mean. He looks for his former buddy (quite well played by Eric Tsang’s son) to silently seek for forgiveness. He wants to settle down with the girlfriend that he used to have as a triad. There is no such thing as leading a new life, if your heart does not permit it.

In Hong Kong films, Cheung started in comedy roles to get recognized as an actor. To avoid the stereotypical typecast (think Stephen Chow), he quickly ditched that persona and moved to more serious roles. The quiet, mysterious, loyal and weird role he portrayed in Johnnie To’s Election I and II was effective for him. In OTE, he plays a tormented cop with times coming in tough for him. It’s unfair to compare him with Tony Leung but Cheung lacks the emotional intensity and depth required to bring that character to the audience. He just does well enough.

Anthony Wong is brilliant as usual, working alongside with his friend, the director of the film. Francis Ng plays the triad boss who is betrayed by Cheung. Ng is unjustly and unfairly wasted here. Rain Li on the other hand, who is Cheung’s girlfriend, is a miscast. I think she better stay in TVB for a while before fully venturing into films.

The story’s editing is slickly done with good efforts by showing us flashbacks of Cheung’s life as a gangster when he leads on as a real cop. How the screenplay segues into the flashback is interestingly done, which got me glued to my seat to see how the rest of them would sequentially unfold.

At the end of the film, the possibilities asked earlier in this review are given due satisfactory answers.

Rating: 6/10
A must watch for fans of Infernal Affairs.

Last updated: 2009-08-11 21:49:04 by joekhor