11-19-2007, 05:31 PM
The original for the Departed - It's quite good. It really changed HK film since the deep-cover-mole motif has been done to death in recent films. They're still milking it today and IA was 2002. That being said, IA is a damn good film. Departed is almost IA note for note as the story goes, so there's no big shocks if you've already seen the other. There's an interesting revelation - Scorcese picked up on a continuity error in IA and added a nice little new scene with it. There's a few other little spins, but the major points of the story arc remain. While Departed had Nicholson ('Do it 'til you're numb' - a killer line for Jack!!) IA has this great atmosphere - the seamy, gritty side of Hong Kong with some Buddhist cultural overtones. It's tropical humidity, blood on tile, crazy neon up impossible overcrowded apartment complexes. There's an alternate ending on the DVD, but both endings are still lukewarm. But the tension getting there is worth the trip. Tony Leung is great as the undercover cop - soulful and broken, but still with some faith. Andy Lau, HK's most bankable star (who I've never really liked, truth be told) is acceptable, sleazy to think he can redeem his past, tortured. The gang boss is Eric Tsang, who was Popeye from that Bruce Lee in hell flick that ED showed us. Tsang is like an HK Danny Devito, but much not so annoying. Short and portly, he does a lot of comedic roles, but can also capture psychos with Napoleon complexes quite well. He's solid in the role, totally different than Nicholson in character. He's more small time, which makes him feel even more vicious. I think I liked IA better than Departed, mostly for the atmosphere - flashbacks to HK, to that evil bar LadyCF dragged us into, and the horrible fate that lie waiting for us there.
Shadow boxing the apocalypse