Infernal Affairs (2002)
Reviewed by: Souxie on 2003-01-18
Summary: Mou gaan dou - very cool, very good!
OK, I waited about four weeks for this movie, and then almost missed it at the cinema - every time I tried to get in it was sold out!
But it was worth the wait - well put together, well constructed and smoothly done by everyone. The usually harmless Eric Tsang was actually quite menacing, Andy Lau Tak-Wa actually acted rather than cruised on his charm and Tony Leung Chiu-Wai stole the film. Fantastic.
It wasn't all doom and gloom, there were a few light moments, and questions raised about the principal characters past experiences to make them seem more credible. (Without spoiling anything, the packed-out cinema laughed when Andy Lau pulled out a bottle of tea in the police room - just happened to be the tea he endorses...)
I won't give away the ending, but I was angry that I thought the wrong person won. But then it depends on who you think is the good or the bad guy, and whether good guys have to lose to win in the end.

THE MAINLAND VERSION HAS A DIFFERENT ENDING! MY FRIEND SAW THE DUBBED MANDARIN VERSION AND THE TWO "HEROES" MEET DIFFERENT ENDINGS!

Very good, will buy the DVD asap. My only gripe is that they maybe should have used Andy Lau and Tony Leung to play themselves as younger selves, rather than got Edison Chen Gwun-Hei and Shaun Yu Man-Lok to step in for 5 minutes.
9.9 / 10
Reviewer Score: 9