This week of reviews has accidentally turned into a week of Asian cinema. I had been meaning to watch the ‘Infernal Affairs’ trilogy as soon as I saw that they were on Netflix and it just so happened that the week I sat down to do so was in a week where I have already reviewed a Japanese and Korean film. This trilogy has also been one on my radar ever since I watched Martin Scorsese’s ‘The Departed’ (2006) as the original film in this franchise is what that film is based on. Now, I really enjoyed ‘The Departed’ and so I was curious to see if these films could outshine them, or if it would be a rare occasion of an American remake being better than the international original. Well there is no need for me to keep yapping, lets get right into.
Infernal Affairs (2002)
It is interesting to see this film having already seen ‘The Departed’, especially as I have seen that film once quite a few years ago. Going into this film with that context, it was really interesting to see just how closely Scorsese followed this film. I am also going to get this out of the way early, I think I prefer ‘The Departed’ as a whole film, but I still had a great time with this film. The whole premise of the film is great as we follow two moles who are playing the cops and the triad against each other while trying to figure out who each other are. Having the audience know who each mole is while having the characters not know leads to some brilliantly tense and exciting scenes throughout the film. And it says something for how well the film is executed that I was able to become fully invested and have an emotional reaction despite knowing where the film was going. All the performances are great as well, especially from the two leads, Andy Lau and Tony Chiu-Wai Leung. Leung was especially engaging, giving a performance that was layered and with real emotional depth. The film is not perfect, however. There are some odd editing choices that I am not entirely sold on, especially the huge amounts of fade to blacks. But the biggest problem I had with the film was with the score. During the more tense moments it is fine. It works well and it adds to the scene. But there are several other scenes, especially in the romance scenes (which are not needed and go nowhere by the way) where the score is comical. It sounds like a score that would work absolutely fine in a rom-com, but this film is meant to be an intense cop drama and the music really doesn’t match the tone at all. But, on the whole, this is a very solid and fun film, and I am excited to see where the series goes from here.
Infernal Affairs II (2003)
Well it turns out that the series is going (in the immortal words of ‘Huey Lewis and the News’) back in time. Yes, we are in prequel territory with the second film of this trilogy. This isn’t necessarily surprising after the narrative of the first film, but prequels are always dangerous waters especially when it comes to character development. However, this is actually one of the real strengths of the film. There are some elements of how the characters are developed that does bring up questions in why they acted like they did in the first film, but for the most part they do a really good job in keeping the characters true to how they were in the first film while developing them in a satisfying way. This is especially true with the character of Sam (Eric Tsang) who becomes a much more interesting and fully fledged character as a result of this film. In terms of the narrative on the whole, it is weaker than the original film. Especially in the first 25 minutes or so where the film quickly introduces so many characters and a quite complex spider-web of hierarchy among the characters and I found myself confused as to what was going on a lot of the time. Once the film settles down it is an interesting narrative with some great twists and turns, and it manages to be a lot of fun while remaining tense and exciting. But while the narrative is a bit weaker than the first film, I think the script on the whole is stronger. The conversations characters have all have purpose in building character or story, and there are several great moments of foreshadowing which have great pay off later in the film. The film keeps the style of the original film in how it is shot and edited, which I am not huge on but I’d be lying if I said the films don’t have a recognisable style. Also, the soundtrack is a huge improvement from the original film. I’d say overall I did enjoy the first film more, but this is not a bad follow up at. I am curious as to where the third film goes narratively though…
Infernal Affairs III (2003)
This film decided to get the best of both worlds and be both a prequel and a sequel. The main crux of the story takes place after the events of the first film, with the film also showing events that had occurred months before those events, and even manages to blend the two timeline together at one point of the film. Narratively this film is all over the place, mostly because of the story structure. It almost feels like three films in one. On the one hand it is a pretty good crime mystery where we see two people who are both suspicious and suspicious of each other playing each other in a mental game of chess trying to catch each other out. This aspect of the narrative starts really well. I was totally invested and tense throughout. But the film ends up becoming convoluted with its twists and with the second narrative that it goes for which is basically a psychological thriller. This aspect of the narrative isn’t particularly well executed but I would be lying if I said it didn’t keep me completely engaged, even if it was because it was pure madness. And then the final of the three films that feel like they have been rolled into one package is the return of the rom-com style narrative that was the worst part of the first film. However, in a surprising twist I actually really enjoyed this part of the film this time around. It is developed so much more in this film and all the scenes had genuinely great moments of comedy while also advancing the story and characters. Also, Tony Leung and Kelly Chen seem to have developed chemistry which was missing from the first film which really makes the scenes work. So, while the film is all over the place and falls flat narratively towards the end it still remains a really fun ride.
So, it turns out that this is a really solid trilogy from top to bottom. It does dip from the first film until the last film, but each film has different aspects that it improves upon from the last. The cast across all three films is great and each film have great moments of tension and action that complement the strong narrative. Well until we get to the third film where the narrative is weaker, but it takes a risk and is so mad that it becomes entertaining in and of itself. Overall a consistently good franchise and one that I am most likely going to return to. It feels like a franchise that will deliver more each time I watch it.