Veteran Hong Kong action director Johnny To doesn’t try to fool you. When he makes a movie about a drug war, he calls it Drug War. To doesn’t waste time on letting you get to know any of the many characters, the better so that you don’t get attached to them. At most they have one key trait, like the one called Haha, who laughs just like that about every sentence. The only surprising thing is that the war is between cops and dealers, not two rival gangs. The movie is slightly confusing at the outset, but the basic idea is that the cops have caught one of the bosses and have him setting up another one.
For most of its length, the story plays out in fairly realistic fashion, with more suspense than action (hidden recording devices play a role), and a modest body count. What happens when the cops finally find their targets is another story altogether. The best thing about the movie is the way that the end both meets and (finally) defies expectations about what should happen in an action movie. Lots of shooting, there is, however.
IMDb link
viewed 6/13/13 at Gershman Y [PFS screening] and reviewed 6/13/13
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