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Good story, Not enough for a whole film

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Blistering performances.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

I didn't feel that this was a unnecessary prequel but it's still competent. So if you liked the first one, this won't ruin this franchise for you. This prequel delves into how Chan Wing-yan earned the trust of the Triad bosses. Lau Kin-ming affair or one sided love with Hon Sam's wife. His work and his cunning executions while working for Ngai Kwun a Triad Boss. This prequel builds some sympathy for Hon, his grief and his rise to power. It further delves into some unnecessary subplots but it did a alright job of showing insight to the two moles younger years. Some parts did not seem all that consistent when it comes to the narrative and some parts did come off a bit corny. But overall, it's a competent prequel that came about thanks to the first one's huge success.7/10

Like A Better Tomorrow 3 this is actually a prequel to Infernal Affairs 1. This confusing development in film needs to be fine tuned before it gets out of control and logical sequels start going backwards.I can't wait for Stallone's next film Rambo -1, when he goes forward in time to fight cavemen in a spaceship before he is even born as an old man! Infernal Affairs became better know as "the film they turned into The Departed so white people could like it" a few years back. In my recent review I pointed out that they are so similar that you could watch either and have a good handle on the other without seeing it.I'd love to see how Hollywood would rip this, as for a period of time it is so confusing and intricately plotted that I couldn't tell who was selling who out and who exactly was being screwed over.(I am a big advocate of subtitles instead of dubbing, but reading and seeing who is saying the lines can be hard when there are heaps of characters on screen and a lot of dialogue. That was the case here, sometimes I had to rewind the thing a few seconds to see who was saying the line before I could even try to guess why they were saying it. Not the filmmakers fault I don't speak Chinese, just the facts though.) We enter the story in 1991. The bad guy from I.A. 1 (This will be stupid, I can see it already), Sam is at this stage a henchman to the crime boss Ngai, who runs a friendly family crime operation. Sam has a girlfriend Mary, she is ruthless and calculating, (though never when Sam is around), and will do anything to help Sam and further their position, including ordering jobs on the side.Sam also happens to be good buddies with Inspector Wong, who you will rightfully guess is a police representative. Inspector Wong has a blurred idea of right and wrong at times, he tends to side with who will provide him with the most benefit at the time. This is complicated when his 2IC and another good friend, becomes very close to uncovering his dark secrets through the film. Inspector Wong basically is a good cop as long as he doesn't have to bust anyone that greases his palms along the way.There is the usual lies, deceit and betrayal (why can't crime lords just get along?), as several of Ngai's "colleagues" express displeasure at how he is running the show and refuse to put in, leading to a clever exchange with Ngai simultaneously working all four of them to get his way, while Same sits at the same table eating noodles.Now being a pre-sequel to Infernal Affairs there are duplicitous gents with feet in both camps. The new good-rat is Yau, who happens to be Ngai's half-brother (again like A Better Tomorrow), and the naughty-rat is Yan, who is in close with: and lusts after; Mary.Fast forward to 1995. Ngai tells all around him he wants out. He plans to retire back to mainland China before the handover of Hong Kong in 1997 (do your history kids). He tells Sam first that the future of crime is in drugs, specifically cocaine, and he sends Sam to Thailand for a reconnoiter.All the while Yau (Ngai's half bro remember? And a cop.) has decided that Ngai's is a pretty good bloke for a vicious crime lord and can't bring himself to bust him.Much to his surprise (and to anyone who hasn't watched a movie before, I thought it was obvious), Ngai switches up the pace and bumps off all his major threats, including the sub-bosses who all thought they were going to move into the hot seat once he retired. In another twist he also tries to put an end to Sam. Smart move, basically the primary threat to a retired crim are other crims who know his secrets.____________________________________________________________ As things start to fall apart the cops are forced to take action, and take Ngai into custody, along with almost everyone he knows, including the two rats, both of whom are perilously close to being identified and erased.As sh*t crumbles around them, Inspector Wong, Yau, Yan, Mary and Sam each must question where their loyalties lie, and Ngai and the police frantically try to work out who is loyal and who is a threat.Infernal Affairs isn't your standard crime thriller, no-one is all bad or all good. Even Ngai as the kingpin of the whole operation is quite smooth and likable… mostly. Also, as alliegances switch through the film and everyone sells out everyone else it is hard to keep track.The easiest way I found was to think of who ended up in the first film, that gives you an unfair advantage in guessing who will survive the prequel.Although confusing, the ending to Infernal Affairs 2 is really well done as everything is almost wrapped up neatly. I found that in the first half the sheer number of characters and convoluted situations became a little too complicated, but the finale made it all worthwhile.Final Rating – 7.5 / 10. A worthy sequel/prequel to a solid first film. Well worth a look.If you liked this review (or even if you didn't) check out oneguyrambling.com

The directors mentioned that the reason behind making 'Mou gaan dou II' (aka 'Infernal Affairs II') was that they wanted to provide some background information and history on the first movie so that the viewers understand the situations better. However, having seen the first movie, I don't see why there was a need for a film about what happened before. Why does everything need to be explained? 'Mou gaan dou' was quite straightforward and as a stand alone it's an excellent action thriller. The prequel is a different genre. It's more a crime drama and it lacks the slickness, steady pace and coherency of the first film, not to forget Lau and Leung's strong performances. Most of the first hour painfully drags on. While 'Mou gaan dou' centred around Yan and Ming, 'Mou gaan dou II' is mainly about Sam, Wong and Hau (who play their leaders in the first film). Here Yan and Ming are merely supporting characters. Unlike in 'Mou gaan dou', here most of the performances are passable rather than great. Wong and Tsang do a fine job in the leading roles. In addition Ng does a brilliant job too. Lau's Mary appears to be too sketchy but she does well. Yet, even with the flaws, 'Mou gaan dou II' is not a bad film but rather an okay film because there are some noteworthy sequences especially towards the end where Hau meets his fate and Mary's murder.

If you get that funny feeling when watching this film that you've seen too many HK action thrillers and that you've seen this one before, it's probably true. However, you may have seen Infernal Affairs (I).Unlike many sequels which are incomprehensible unless you see all the episodes and in sequence, IF (II) does not make that assumption. Fully half or more of the film repeats IF (I) - it felt like someone took the outtakes of the earlier film and strung it together to make another film, but clearly it wasn't. IF (II) is too well made and makes sense and has continuity. It's just that if you see I or II, you needn't see the other. It's like a film school exercise - take a story and shoot it two different ways or edit it two different ways.Actually, this is much better than a sequel. It's an equal.