Infernal Affairs 2 (2003, Hong Kong)

Infernal Affairs 2 is pretty damn confusing, even if like me, you’ve seen Infernal Affairs five or six times (okay, so maybe I have a thing for Andy Lau). Even with most of the primary characters returning, there’s just so much going on that the first half hour is a real head-scratcher. The plot settles down a bit after that, though it still feels overstuffed with characters without a lot of backstory. This is somewhat ironic, as Infernal 2 is actually a prequel to the original film, delving into the early years of Lau and Chan’s mole lives, and somewhat fleshing out the odd relationship between the gangster Sam and Inspector Wong.

One of the best aspects of Infernal 2 is the backdrop of the Hong Kong handover. The story cycles through three points in the nineties, finally ending with 1997 and the transition of power in both the political sphere and the gangster underworld. While not as gripping as the original, Infernal 2 is still quite a good action/crime film, though both Andy Lau and Tony Leung are missed (their youthful stand-ins are poor replacements). At least there’s still the excellent Eric Tsang as Sam, one of my favorite characters from recent gangster movies.