Up until seeing this, there was a major "decline" of the Milkyway style. As a result, the fresh storytelling and that particular vibe from the original movie is lost and instead you get to see things go rather busy and too ordinary, and this went onward with the other parts of the TACTICAL UNIT series (THE CODE, NO WAY OUT, HUMAN NATURE and PARTNERS), although some of these were actually good in their own right (particularly those that were directed by Lawrence Lau). But I was really surprised to see how COMRADES IN ARMS turned out; the Milkyway style was back for a good reason (it was the only entry in the series to be shot on film, and given a theatrical release). So it was therefore wonderful and pleasant to have those touches as well as that special vibe back that prevents the movie from being like the other entries. Everything here is now open, slow-paced, and stylistic as far as everything goes; story (portions, character development), acting, BTS stuff (music, editing, cinematography, settings etc). Seeing this makes me also believe that Johnnie To's contribution is too obvious (and all for the better).