I have no intention to watch this movie in the cinema if not because of having read 2 or 3 reviews up here. Someone even give it a 10 !! I am not a fan of HK actions. My Internal Affairs dvds are still unopened.
The story - The opening subplot before the main title makes a perfect opening for this movie but as the movie moves along, there are just too many ACCIDENTS, CO-INCIDENTS and INCIDENTS beside the main plot that makes the audience feel that the scriptwriter don't know how to end the story or because they are not confident enough, thinking that more to see will please the audience. In this case, it certainly spoil it. Many subplots like Cheung's past with his wife, his dancing class, the ending part of the opening informer, the cops tailing someone to the car park, how Nicholas has met the boss's girlfriend before, etc. They are all unnecessary. They could be much better ways to show the characters or carry on the story. There are also too many situations that are UNBELIEVABLE too, making the audience to lose excitement. At the end, you only want to know what will happen to Nicholas Tse and his sister as they have the most sympathetic characters.
The direction and styling - Can easily tell the director is a big fan of Wong Kar Wai. A different colour bar scene, the night train scene,the music, some old English and Chinese songs styling. They are all like ideas from WKW movies but without William's editing and Doyle's jerky camera-works. .
The acting - Overall good. Nicholas's acting has really matured. He made the character so special like no one else can replace him there. The Taiwanese actress is also good. The actor who played thug Taiping is outstanding. Cheung is also good but the director let him show-off in the wrong scenes.
I think the director should emphasize more on the scenes between Nicholas and Cheung and between Cheung and his boss(near the end) instead of putting in so many unnecessary subplots and happenings that spoil the movie's concept.
Without those flaws, I would have given it a 8 or 9 but at most 7 now. Anyhow,if you have enjoyed such movies from HK, go for it.
