Cold blood continues to flow

Infernal Affairs (無間道), a slick cop-crime drama, was an unexpected success amid the slump in Hong Kong box-office receipts last year and aims to capitalize with an ambitious trilogy, the second part of which comes out today in Taiwan.

The sequel, Infernal Affairs II (無間道II), tells a bigger story and incorporates a bigger cast with a wider-ranging tale about the rise and fall of a Hong Kong triad family. This movie shows its makers have all the ambition to make an original epic of the series.

The testosterone-driven plot of the first Infernal Affairs is compounded this time around (it is actually a prequel in terms of the plot) by a charming character played by the dazzling Carina Lau (劉嘉玲).

In its attempt to become an epic it uses a similar narrative structure to The Godfather to describe an underworld feud among Hong Kong triads. Toward the end it even manages to incorporate the city's hand-over to China in 1997, as a means to add historical weight.

Sequels too often fall into the trap of becoming bloated versions of the first movie, with added action and drama, while being light on plot. In this respect Infernal Affairs II comes out looking good, having shown some restraint and not having degenerated into an empty slasher flick. It delivers a complete story, while tying in the original story and characters.

This prequel also maintains technical and stylistic excellence. The cinematography remains sharp and the editing smooth. Most importantly, it proves the fast pulse of Hong Kong-style action drama is still beating.

So, despite a few minor flaws, the prequel is a successful one, and should continue or even amplify the achievement of the Infernal Affairs trilogy.

In the new movie we're taken back to 1991, when Chen Wing-yan, played by Tony Leung (梁朝偉) in the first movie and now played by Shawn Yue (余文樂), is an undercover cop in the triads and has just begun his double life as an undercover cop in the triads. Meanwhile, Lau Kin-ming, the mole in the police force played by Andy Lau (劉德華) in the first movie and now played by Edison Chen (陳冠希), is just entering the police academy.

Lau assassinates Ngai Kun, a Hong Kong triad leader, sparking a feud. Four gang leaders under Ngai prepare to rebel after his death. But the rebellion is immediately quelled by Ngai's second son Ngai Wing-hao, played by Francis Ng (吳鎮宇). He is well-educated, good mannered, cunning, cold and cruel, in a manner reminiscent of Michael Corleone in The Godfather.

The tyrant Sam Hung, played by Eric Tsang (曾志偉) in the first movie, is here a loyal subordinate, nine years before taking power. As already shown in the first movie, he sent Lau to study at the police academy to become his man on the inside. But what he did not know was that his woman Mary, played by Carina Lau, is the key figure behind the assassination of Ngai Kun.

Detective Wong, played by Anthony Wong (黃秋生), sent Chen undercover into the Ngai family, knowing that Chen is actually the half-brother of Ngai Wing-hao. "I want to be a good man," is how Chen explained to Wong his willingness to go undercover and arrest his half-brother if necessary.

All these reversed identities and character twists serves to show the ambiguity between good and evil and the obscure boundaries between friends and enemies that are the central themes in Infernal Affairs II.