We’re at the last part of the Infernal Affairs trilogy!
How are you feeling about it so far? I’d have to say that the first two was a decent run. Obviously, nothing quite beats the genius in the first one but the second was surprisingly well done. Lets move along to the third one. I have nothing much to say about it. Only that, when I saw it a few years back when it first came out, this one confused me so much to the point that I wasn’t too happy with it. But with an open mind, I walked right back in fully positive that this time around I was going to understand what was going on. Lets see if that did happen 😉
**If you haven’t seen the first one, please stop right here if you intend to see these. The description will have spoilers regarding the first one.**
Director: Wai-Keung Lau, Alan Mak
Cast: Andy Lau, Tony Leung, Leon Lai, Daoming Chen, Kelly Chen, Anthony Wong, Eric Tsang
Six months after the events of Infernal Affairs, Inspector Lau Kin Ming (Andy Lau) is finally finished the arduous investigation on the events that happened resulting in the deaths of Yan (Tony Leung) and the mole. Resuming his position in Internal Affairs, he catches news that there was 5 moles seeped in from Sam’s triad organization and in the past six months, they have been dying one by one. It is suspected that Sam has another internal man who was asked to kill off all of them in case of his death. Fearing for his life, Lau starts to suspect the Security unit chief, Inspector Yeung (Leon Lai). At the same time, the story flips back to Yan finally penetrating Sam’s triad and having his first mission with the Mainland China connections for their future illegal practices with their leader (Daoming Chen).
First things first, I know you are all wondering the same thing: Did I get it this time? The answer is that: I kept myself very much awake and since my mom was watching this without watching the first one, she was all full of questions and after explaining things to her during the movie, it all clicked together. At least one goal was achieved.
Now, the second thing I have to talk about is how I felt. I took a few days to sit back and let it sink in a little because this one is very confusing and for some, they even find its a pretty unnecessary addition. If they had stopped it at the first one or even the second one, it would have been perfectly fine. With that, I pretty much agree. If you watch the theatrical version, its even more confusing. I think its because I watched the extended Director’s Cut that it adds in parts that link things together in a better way.
The concept behind it was okay. Its a follow-through with a nice twist at the end. Its just that it kind of does raise some questions as in: why is the psychiatrist suddenly so trusting of Ming? If Sam was dead, why would someone still answer his orders to kill off the moles? And these sort of story flow questions keep coming up. I can’t remember them all and I’m sure I’ll hit some spoiler territory. Honestly, I can’t get too detail with anything because I feel like it does lead to the big finale and that was the best part of the movie even if the pieces before it wasn’t all too memorable.
However, there are some notable additions. This one does add the guy up there: a very talented Chinese actor Daoming Chen. I first saw this guy in a historical drama about one of the emperors and I’m not much of historical stuff but he was so awesome. That gave Infernal Affairs 3 extra points. Although I honestly felt like his character was a bit fuzzy and could have been done better but the runtime is already pretty intense. On the note of actors, in the second picture we have Leon Lai (who I don’t like very much) but surprisingly, I was pretty impressed with his whole act. It kept me guessing whether he was a good or bad guy the whole way. Andy Lau delivers a fine performance and Tony Leung does well also. Kelly Chen is still rather green as an actress as she is primarily a singer that went into acting.
Overall, Infernal Affairs 3 is unnecessary and confusing. I didn’t get a chance to watch both director’s and theatrical to compare but since I did watch director’s cut this time, I’d suggest watching that so you get a better idea. There are still all around notable performances from the original cast and the new additions along with some surprises. The plot was a bit too much for its own good but they did give a really decent ending to pull everything together. Its worth a watch if you’ve already gone through the first two but I wouldn’t say its necessary to rush to see it either.
Have you seen the Infernal Affairs trilogy? What do you think of it? Was this sequel necessary?
Tranquil Dreams 