Desertman84 Infernal Affairs II is a great movie but it never lived up to the standards of the first one which happens to be a masterpiece. It may not be a classic but still it has a great story in it. The film focuses on the youth of both Inspector Lau and Yan as moles of the police force and criminal organization run by Sam respectively. Aside from that, it also relates the story of the rise of Sam as the triad boss and his relationship with Inspector Wong,who belongs to the police organization and is determined to bring down his crime organization. The movie was interesting in the sense that we see two young people develop differently and how they turn out to be not the person they aspire to be. Aside from that, it also presents their personal and spiritual struggles that they encounter and the burden of the responsibility they carry in their everyday lives. The movie is highly recommended for everyone who loves the first movie. The acting is great inspite of the absence of the two main stars of the first film. The direction by Andrew Lau is still wonderful.

thisissubtitledmovies excerpt, more at my location - That there was a sequel to Infernal Affairs is not a surprise. In Hong Kong, if something works, odds are it will be sequelised, or simply ripped off. Even so, the bar was high for Infernal Affairs II. Did directors Andrew Lau and Alan Mak clear it, or did their endeavours fall short?A thrilling surprise of a picture that enriches repeat viewings of the (mildly superior) first film, making the viewer appreciate it even more, and not simply by favourable comparison. Andrew Lau and Alan Mak are beginning to reveal the width and breadth of the canvas on which they are painting an epic Hong Kong crime drama - the question remained, could they pull it off one more time?A superb achievement, to offer something different while remaining faithful to the original film. Comparisons to first two Godfather movies is not hyperbole.

oneguyrambling 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

lastliberal Naturally, sequels are not usually as good as the original. The technically isn't a sequel, but a prequel, giving us a taste of what came before. It is mainly concerned with SP Wong (Anthony Wong) and Sam (Eric Tsang). They are much more friendly in this film - before they both get killed in Infernal Affairs.The original actors are replaced. Yan is Shawn Yue instead of Tony Leung, and Lau is Edison Chen instead of Andy Lau. It doesn't matter as they are minor characters in this movie.Francis Ng does a great job of the bosses son, and Carina Lau as Mary, who is in all three movies is superb as well. Kai Chi Liu as Uncle John and Chapman To also turn in good performances.Of course the music was just incredible!