INFERNAL AFFAIRS 2, the prequel to the popular film from 2002, is a bloated movie trying to make its way into "epic" status. The film runs almost 2 hours long, is at least 30 minutes too long, and too many characters are introduced, leaving the original two leads -- the two people the film is supposed to be "exploring" -- standing in the background with nothing much to do. One of the main character commits a murder in the beginning that sets off a gangland war, but other than that the two main characters could have been excised completely from the film.
In a nutshell, INFERNAL AFFAIRS 2 is THE GODFATHER 2, but with Chinese actors and triads instead of mafiosos. Narratively, the two films are identical, and the writers of IA 2 even re-uses elements and sequences made popular in that other film. It's not very hard to spot, but I guess we can count is as homage rather than theft. Perhaps.
In any rate, IA 2 is a good enough movie, but in truth, it really shouldn't have been called IA 2, or a prequel to the far superior INFERNAL AFFAIRS. As another movie entirely, without relations to INFERNAL AFFAIRS, IA 2 would have been quite a terrific film. But alas, it comes to us with baggage.
7 out of 10
(go to www.nixflix.com for a more detailed review of this film)
In a nutshell, INFERNAL AFFAIRS 2 is THE GODFATHER 2, but with Chinese actors and triads instead of mafiosos. Narratively, the two films are identical, and the writers of IA 2 even re-uses elements and sequences made popular in that other film. It's not very hard to spot, but I guess we can count is as homage rather than theft. Perhaps.
In any rate, IA 2 is a good enough movie, but in truth, it really shouldn't have been called IA 2, or a prequel to the far superior INFERNAL AFFAIRS. As another movie entirely, without relations to INFERNAL AFFAIRS, IA 2 would have been quite a terrific film. But alas, it comes to us with baggage.
7 out of 10
(go to www.nixflix.com for a more detailed review of this film)