Review of Infernal Affairs II (2003) by Jeff B — 29 Apr 2009

This was a pretty good follow up to Infernal Affairs (this is actually a prequel even though it's called II). I won't lie, this was a bit hard to follow, partly because I forgot who some of the characters from the first film were, and a lot of the names sounded the same and I had some trouble following who was who. However, it wasn't a huge deal because it got going quickly so it wasn't too bad.

The first is a superior film, but this had some nice moments. Like the original, this had a pretty cool opening that throws you into the story. It also has some clever moments throughout, and the ending was very well done.

But I don't know, I think what made the original so great was that in the middle of the huge illegal deals and things taking place, it's basically focusing on Yan and Ming. With Infernal Affairs, they're pretty much in the background and didn't have much to do. I liked the little touches they put in to connect to the first film (such as the record they're listening to at the beginning), but it seemed like there was just too much story taking place here, it didn't take enough time to focus on the characters. I did however like that we got to see how Sam become who he is.

Anyway, this was a good sequel, better than a lot of action sequels. So I'll probably see Infernal Affairs III soon enough.