Mou gaan dou II (2003)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Directors:

Wai-keung Lau
Alan Mak

Writers:

Alan Mak (written by) and
Felix Chong (written by)

Release Date:

1 pa¼dziernik 2003 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. We all climb towards heaven. We all fall towards hell.

Plot:

In this prequel to Mou gaan dou (2002), Chan Wing Yan has just become an undercover cop in the triads while Lau Kin Ming joins the police force. Both the triads and the police find an enemy in a rival crime boss.

Plot Keywords:

Prequel | Police Academy | Shot In The Forehead | Drug Traffic | Police Internal Affairs

Awards:

4 wins & 11 nominations

Cast

Anthony Wong Chau-Sang	...	Inspector Wong Chi Shing (as Anthony Wong)
Eric Tsang	...	Hon Sam
Carina Lau	...	Mary Hon
Francis Ng	...	Ngai Wing Hau
Edison Chen	...	Officer Lau Kin Ming
Shawn Yue	...	Chan Wing Yan
Jun Hu	...	SP Luk (as Hu Jun)
Tung Cho 'Joe' Cheung	...	Kwun (as Joe Cheung)
Henry Fong	...	Gandhi (as Fong Ping)
Peter Ngor	...	Negro
Arthur Wong	...	Wah
Teddy Chan	...	Ching
Chung-yue Chiu	...	Mary (as Yu Chiu)
Phorjeat Keanpetch	...	Sunny
Shipin Ye	...	Socialites (as Ye Shi Pin)

Also Known As:

Infernal Affairs II (Hong Kong: English title) (International: English title) (Singapore: English title)
Infernal Affairs 2 (Australia)
Wu jian dao 2 (Hong Kong: Mandarin title)

Runtime:

119 min | Germany:110 min (TV version)

Country:

Hong Kong | China | Singapore

Language:

Cantonese | English | Mandarin | Thai

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Taiwan:R-12 | Australia:MA | Iceland:16 | Malaysia:18SG | New Zealand:R16 | Argentina:16 | Finland:K-15 | France:-12 | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Ireland:15A (original rating) | Ireland:15 (video rating) | Italy:T | Japan:PG-12 | Netherlands:16 | Norway:15 | Singapore:NC-16 | Singapore:PG (cut) | South Korea:15 | Spain:18 | UK:15

Company:

Media Asia Films

Trivia:

The line that SP Wong says, "Evil prevails. Only the good die young," is a simplified translation of what he actually says in Cantonese which is an old Chinese saying.

Quotes:

SP Wong: Evil prevails. Only the good die young.

Movie Connections:

Remade as The Departed (2006)

Soundtrack:

FORGIVE AND FORGET

Everything you didn't need to know that badly

What a tangled web a studio can weave when they realize they desperately need to make some money off of a sequel to a film that didn't need one. That's not to say that this is bad, but it would strike me as an ordinary film even if I hadn't seen the extraordinary film that came before. This "sequel," despite the number, is actually a prequel, but it doesn't so much fill in the blanks as muddy up the waters; it's often confusing, it's not always clear if some of the new backstory really squares with the depictions we saw in the first one, and some of the more glaring questions are left unanswered (possibly for film number three). The young replacements the mole characters, previously played by Tony Leung and Andy Lau, are certainly not up to the task. Thankfully, the movie works because Anthony Wong and Eric Tsang reprise their roles as the respective cop and mob boss, and it is quite interesting to learn about a relationship between them that, from what I recall, was far from obvious before. I certainly wouldn't recommend watching this before the first one, despite the chronology, but I imagine it is worth satisfying the likely thirst for more that you will most likely have after watching the previous film.