Review of Election 2 (2006) by Lee B — 16 Nov 2008

I've heard and read a lot about how the original Election and this film are a couple of Johnny To's best works. I don't think there is any question that both of these are good movies, but Johnny To has done a bunch of other films that are better than this.

This is a sequel to the first Election, but it is possible to watch this without having seen the first. Unlike other sequels where directors ignore the character background and buildup because they assume their audience has seen the previous installment, Johnny To takes the time to actually build up the characters here.

This is a good and a bad thing. The good is that you get to start fresh and treat this as a standalone film, but the bad is that it takes the film a little while to get going.The story deals with 2 men running to become the chairperson of the triad society.

Hence "Election." The first half of the film is all story and character buildup and while it does have some of Johnny To's good directing and camerawork, it still isn't anything special.

It isn't until the 45 minute mark where the story really gets going. This is where the vintage Johnny To kicks in.Similar to the first Election, the action is non-existent. There is violence, but there are no gang shootouts or anything like that.

This movie is all character and story driven.The popular Simon Yam is a little disappointing. It isn't because his acting sucks. It is because, for the character that he plays, he gets too little airtime.

All the airtime goes to Louis Koo, which is not a bad thing. Nick Cheung, Mark Cheng, and Ka Tung Lam round out the good supporting cast.When all is said and done, if you like the first Election, you will like this one.