Infernal Affairs III

Infernal Affairs III

I sat down to watch the third and final part of the Hong Kong crime thriller trilogy "Mou Gaan Dou III: Jung Gik Mou Gaan" (aka "Infernal Affairs III") here in 2022, and it was actually my first time to watch it. Sure, I knew this movie existed, but I just never had an opportunity to watch it before now. Initially I was thrilled to see that the movie had Andy Lau and Tony Chiu-Wai Leung back on the cast list. However, my excitement was short lived, because the storyline in "Mou Gaan Dou III: Jung Gik Mou Gaan" was somewhat redundant and unnecessary. I mean, what was the purpose of going back to tell the story of what happened between the prequel ("Mou Gaan Dou II") and the original movie ("Mou Gaan Dou")? That just felt fully and wholly unnecessary to me, especially because you already knew the fate of the main characters. So this movie was somewhat of a disappointment to me. And in terms of action and thrills, then "Mou Gaan Dou III: Jung Gik Mou Gaan" didn't really manage to deliver anything even remotely close to the original 2002 movie ("Mou Gaan Dou"), nor was it as good as the 2003 prequel ("Mou Gaan Dou II"). Sure, it was great to see cast members from parts I and II return to part III, I will say that much. And the cast list is rather impressive and extraordinary, as there are lots of really great and talented actors and actresses on the cast list. It was a shame that "Mou Gaan Dou III: Jung Gik Mou Gaan" turned out to be such a subpar movie in comparison to an explosive first movie and a pretty good second movie. My rating of "Mou Gaan Dou III: Jung Gik Mou Gaan" lands on a very mediocre five out of ten stars.

This time around, we have the returning Tony Leung, Andy Lau, and the new comer Leon Lai to light up the screen for Infernal Affairs III. The three are arguably the biggest pop stars in Hong Kong since the 80's. Does it make the movie any better, I don't think so. These superstars just act like superstar actors (essentially playing their cool selves on screen) and I don't think they are great in this one. They have better performances in other movies. The cool monotone blackish production design doesn't necessarily make the movie cool and modern, not even the computer, gadgets, GPS..., in fact it comes across as rather pretentious and boring. How does it compare to the original Infernal Affairs? I like the first one better, at least it has some good story telling there, not necessarily original: undercover cop, mole, I don't think it's all that original, but you don't necessarily to be original to be good. This sequel rehash the basic premise of the first one, do some more plot twisting and psychological drama there, which I somehow find totally unnecessary other than let's make another sequel to cash in from the first one. It's not a good sequel and definitely not a very good movie either.

I give it a 10, honest! The show was so confusing, I had to switch the subtitles to Chinese instead of English to understand. Set 10 months after Chan Wing Yan's death, Lau Kin Ming is relegated to mundane administrative work until the Internal Affairs department had finished investigating SP Yeung's involvement Sergent Chun's death. It turns out Chun was Sam's mole and someone had sent a box of tapes to Yeung of the various people supplying intelligence to Sam. What follows is a series of very confusing events: Yeung seeming to trade intelligence with Sam, Shen's involvement in business with Sam in China, Yeung's friendship with Yan...and all of it accompanied by very cool music to add to the suspense. Ming decides to investigate Yeung. In his mind he thinks of Yeung as the mole, trying to get rid of all the other moles. Towards the middle, you will be convinced that Ming has gone completely mad, and during a therapy session with Dr Lee, accidentally reveals that he is indeed, Sam's mole. Chen Daoming's persona as the cool undercover cop from the Mainland, who works with Yeung to expose Ming is super cool indeed. The suit, the walk, (even though towards the end he has to limp) you'll be convinced he is the coolest guy in the whole series, although he played a small role in the story-telling. So Shen isn't really Shen. Who is Yeung then? Is he the good guy or the bad guy? I say, watch all 3 shows, and the Special edition DVD. Everything will be clarified. (I've watched the Special edition DVD possibly 3 times to clarify this.)

this final installment in the series is for me,i think the best of the trilogy.it it a bit confusing,as it does jump back in forth in time.but i think on repeated viewing it will become much clearer.forgetting that though,for sheer tension,it can't be beat.i was on the edge of my seat the whole time.this one focus4es less on the action and more on the character ans the story,as it should,since it ties everything(mostly) up in the end.there even a humorous bit that works very well.its' a great end to the trilogy.i will probably watch the all three movies again and see what i missed the first time around.for me,Mou gaan dou III: Jung gik mou gaan,AKA Infernal Affairs III is an 8/10

Revolutionary cop thriller Infernal Affairs and its clever prequel Infernal Affairs II have profoundly changed Hongkong cinema two decades ago. The scriptwriters, directors and cast decided once more to capitalize on the success of the two predecessors to present a nervously twisted third film that is prequel and sequel at the same time. As a prequel, it gives us more information about the two moles and their challenging everyday lives. As a sequel, this film shows how the surviving mole tries to cut loose ends by eliminating all other moles while he gets caught up in his own web of lies as the internal affairs department is investigating him while his wife plans on divorcing him. This movie's most significant flaw is that it doesn't seem to know what it wants to be and ends up being too many things at the same time. The sudden changes from past to present prevent this film from having any flow whatsoever. This film feels dull, exhausting and overtly long. To be fair, a few segments are rather interesting. For instance, the relationship between the mole who has infiltrated the triads and his resilient psychologist convinces with brilliant acting and slow burn romance that becomes quite palpable towards the climax. This movie also has a satisfactory climax as the mole working in the police department decides to see his plans to cut loose ends through by any means necessary. Many characters who have carried the two predecessors are only side notes in this film. Tony Leung's character is reduced to a closed-minded, tight-lipped and childishly romantic sidekick. Eric Tseng's wonderful character is shown as conflicted mobster who has lost most of its charisma. Most remarkably, Andy Lau's character who was always cool, prepared and quick in the predecessors loses touch with reality and runs amok which seems to be completely out of character. The filmmakers tried to introduced quite a few surprising changes but they feel pulled out of thin air and are simply not believable. At the end of the day, avoid yourself the trouble to sit through Infernal Affairs III that overall lacks too much in quality to convince from start to finish. Discover this franchise with the excellent second instalment and continue with the groundbreaking first film but ignore this third part entirely. This episodic psychological drama feels like a dizzying rollercoaster ride that overstays its welcome.

The last installment of Infernal Affairs was suppose to offer closure to the story. All it does is finish off Inspector Lau Kin Ming's (Andy Lau)story but leaves any other character's stories untold. The plot of this story, if you can even call it that, was based around the desire to feature Inspector Lau Kin Ming's (Andy Lau)and Dr. Lee Sum Yee (Kelly Chen) as much as possible. Watching Ming's character fall from grace was all good and well, but the movie left giant plot holes. 1) Why would Chan Wing Yan (Tony Leung Chiu Wai) be willing to help SP Wong Chi Shing (Anthony Wong) if he conspired to kill his father and also killed his half-brother? At the end of IF2 he seems horrified and distraught after the SP Wong kills his half brother, yet in IF1 he is communicating with him like nothing happened? 2) Besides not answering this question, IF3 just raises more. Why would Chan Wing Yan (Tony Leung Chiu Wai) be willing to keep working for Hon Sam (Eric Tsang) if he was purposely set up by him? You even see Tsui Wai-keung (Chapman To) get out of Sam's car, and in IF1 they are suddenly completely trusted by Sam and even loyal to him? The movie itself is drawn out and painstakingly slow, or it jumps around from time period to time period confusingly. The movie also decides to introduce two completely new characters, who are not properly introduced until mid/end movie, which makes it even more confusing. It does not resemble the previous two movies in any way. The fact that Ming (Andy Lau) becomes schizophrenic only adds to the confusing, showing the viewer visual hallucinations when it is already quite clear that the audience already knows he has gone crazy. (NB: The scene where Mary (Carina Lau) appears and shoots him in the mental health institute.) Furthermore, when Ming (Andy Lau) shoots himself in the head, he doesn't die? In fact, they state he has brain damage, to accompany his schizophrenia, which was needed because??? He needed more metal problems??? 3) If we assume Inspector/SP Yeung Kam Wing (Leon Lai) is a mole then why does he try to set up Sam? And why does he not kill Chan Wing Yan (Tony Leung Chiu Wai) when he knows he is a undercover cop. Alternatively if we assume he is clean, how does he have the meeting with Sam in the library? If this is a delusion in inspector Min's (Andy Lau) mind, this was not clear at all. But if SP Yeung (Leon Lai) was clean we need to ask why didn't Chan Wing Yan (Tony Leung Chiu Wai) turn to them to clear his name in IF1? Because... the writers did not think this last movie through. Therefore this movie only takes away from the first two. It only gets a 5 because of some of the artistic features it has, but the story line is missing and flawed. Minor complaints: 1) Del Piero (Dion Lam) was not shown at all, but he was suppose to be always with Tsui Wai-keung (Chapman To) and his equal in rank. 2) In IF1 we assume that the little girl at his funeral is Chan Wing Yan's (Tony Leung Chiu Wai) daughter. Is anyone else but me interested in that? Where the heck is the love story in this whole series?

You know how the 3rd installment in "The Godfather" trilogy is hands-down the lower rank installment compared to the previous 2? Well it's the same here, this is a very bland and boring sequel that tried to milk the story as much as it could. I thoroughly enjoyed the first "Infernal Affairs" and the second one was okay. But this third one just added in bunch of elements and characters to milk the story into a franchise. With the ending for the first one, I know it can be very difficult to expand the story. But they went for it anyways and the results are disastrous. So what this is, is a prequel and a sequel to the first one. So they can bring back some of the deceased character that don't have all that much to do within the screen time. Chen Wing-yan was one of my favorite character as the ballsy undercover cop. But in this he has almost nothing to do, so it focuses in on his relationship with his friends which was already settled. And more on the romance between him and his psychiatrist. And let me tell you, the romance between the two is boring to sit through and just seemed like a muddled mess. The psychiatrist is just there for plot device when it comes to the ending. I did like the cat and mouse game between Lau Kin-ming (the mole from the previous one) and Superintendent Yeung Kam-wing whole plays Lau's rival as his equal. When it comes to his methodical planning and clever ways to out think his opponents. I think they should have played more with this instead of skimming over it. Because it sort of reminded me of the confrontation between Walter White and Gus Fring. I wouldn't be surprised if "Breaking Bad" borrowed some of the cat and mouse elements from this film. However some of the dialogues are so corny despite the characters trying to deliver it in a cool fashion. Overall, this is a incoherent and boring finale to tie up loose ends. 5/10

My infernal 'Infernal Affairs' marathon concludes with the third part of this epic saga. This time we're closing in on another mole in the Police force. The trouble is, we keep slipping back into the past so we can see how this guy ties in with it all. To be honest it's a bit of a mess but here's a brief summary while I can still remember it (summary haters, and those that don't wish to know about the plot, take some bad guys out while I write the next paragraph). Lau Kin Ming has now been cleared of any wrongdoing in the death of the undercover cop, Chan Wing Yan. He can now concentrate on finding other moles in the Police force. His attention is drawn to SP Yeung Kam Wing who seems to be keeping his cards very close to his chest. Another candidate is Shen Chen, a man who, at one time, was Hon Sam's partner. Not everybody is who they seem to be and add to this a lot of flashing backwards and forwards in time, it makes for a rather confusing plot… Think I'll leave it there, I'm getting confused. It's pretty well made, but it seems very cobbled together and has little coherence. The plot is very hard to follow and a bit of a mess of a screenplay doesn't really help. Performance wise; Tony Leung Chiu Wai was pretty good as Chan Wing Yan, as was Andy Lau as Lau Kin Ming. Of the rest, Leon Lai did a decent job as the enigmatic SP Yeung Kam Wing and Daoming Chen was pretty good as Shen Chen. The first two films were really good and so I found it hard to believe this one could be so bad. It almost feels like it was rushed out too quickly after the success of the first two and suffered greatly for it. It certainly lacks the punch of the first two and as such is a rather disappointing conclusion to the trilogy. NOT recommended. My Score: 4.6/10

The first installment gave us edge-of-the-seat thrills with its chess-game intrigues The second, a prequel, was just as interesting with its fast-paced Godfather 2-type background to the 1991 triad wars which saw the rise of the vicious Hau (Francis Ng), the coup de grace by Sam (Eric Tsang) and the planting of the moles in the police and within Sam's circle. Number 3 deals mainly with the fading fortunes of Lau Kin Ming (Andy Lau) in 2004 when after the murder of undercover cop Chan Wing Yan (Tony Leung), he is under police investigation and relegated to the sidelines. The rising star of the police force now is Yeung Kam Wing (Leon Lai) and Kin Ming suspects something amiss. He takes it upon himself to check him out. The investigations lead him to Sam's former business partner Shen (Chen Dao Ming) who appears to be related to Kam Wing. Determined to turn over a new leaf, Kin Ming plans to nail his 'rival' while keeping his own 'identity' from being exposed. This 'forward' plot does not have much drama (or melodrama) but we have a number of flashbacks which recall how Wing Yan tries his best to win Sam's trust, including setting up a smuggling network with Shen and breaking the law time and again... If we had lots of twists and shocks in the first two installments, the 'action' in this 'conclusion' is rather 'laid back' - it is mainly about the links of psychiatrist Dr Lee (Kelly Chen) with Wing Yan and later Kin Ming. Directors Alan Mak and Andrew Lau seem to be scrapping the bottom of the barrel and coming out with bits and pieces of their former glory. Basically there is nothing much left to tell and it is a pain to see Andy Lau trying to be 'dramatic'. Tony Leung, resurrected for the flashbacks, still as charming though.