Infernal Affairs II 2003

“Infernal Affairs raised the bar for what a Hong Kong film could be, and its commercial success guaranteed sequels – a slight problem given that most of the cast is killed off in the original. Instead, co-directors Alan Mak and Andrew Lau decided to go prequel for the first sequel, bringing on inexperienced actors/idols Edison Chen and Shawn Yue to play young versions of corrupt police inspector Ming and undercover cop Yan, respectively. The co-directors also abandoned the rigidly structured cat-and-mouse formula that gave the original its paranoid charge, opting to create a sprawling crime epic of family, loyalty and betrayal. That’s the kind of Godfather territory Hong Kong’s run-of-the-mill triad flicks rarely tread… Infernal Affairs II muddies the moral waters until no one, cop or triad, escapes without some implication in its cycle of violence and death. Who knew that a Hong Kong cop flick could offer such a subtle pleasure as moral complexity?” — Bryan Walsh, Time Magazine Asia