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OPERATION UNDERCOVER (HK)

 ABOUT THE MOVIE

Genre: Thriller/Drama
Starring: Eric Tsang, Francis Ng, Shawn Yue, Julian Cheung, Jordan Chan, Miu Kiu-Wai
Director: Marco Mak
Rating: NC-16 (Some Violence)
Year Made: 2006

 


SPECIAL FEATURES


- Trailers


 


TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Languages: Chinese/Cantonese
Subtitles: Chinese & English
Aspect Ratio: Anamorphic Widescreen
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
Running Time: 1 hr 40 mins
Region Code: 3
Distributor: Scorpio East

 

 


SYNOPSIS:
 

A rumour is spread within the triads that three years ago, more than one thousand undercover cops were assigned to infiltrate various triads. After years of gathering evidences, it is finally the right time for them to nab their main target. The mission is led by Inspector Wei (Miu Kiu-Wai) who used to work as an undercover. He aims to fully wipe out the Hung Heng triad, the most powerful and notorious triad in Hong Kong....

MOVIE REVIEW :

Blame it on Andrew Lau and Alan Mak’s Infernal Affairs trilogy (2002-2003) if you had to.

Since the phenomenal undercover cop drama, every movie of similar genre that was been made ever since has been compared to the movie series that was said to revive Hong Kong’s flagging film industry.

So when one watches this Marco Mak-directed picture, it is inevitable that comparisons are made. And we won’t fault you for thinking that you are seeing double, because this movie’s cast includes alums from Infernal Affairs.

Let’s see, there’s Eric Tsang who plays one of the many triad members in this movie. And accompanying him are fellow capable actors like Francis Ng and Shawn Yue. Along with the goofy Jordan Chan, the seedy Julian Cheung and a few other familiar Hong Kong faces, these mobsters face the dire circumstance of having undercover cops amongst them.

Headed by the maturely aged Miu Kiu Wai (he of the famed “five tigers” of Hong Kong cinema in the 1980s), the police force is using these undercover cops to expose and arrest the triad members.

This is a storyline that is nothing too exciting, given the many films of such type that has been flocking the market recently. Hands up, those who are not fans of movies like Johnnie To’s Election (2005) and Wilson Yip’s SPL (2005).

While there is nothing refreshingly thrilling about this 102-minute movie, it stands out from the rest as a cheeky and interesting picture. It pokes fun of Infernal Affairs by asking whether Tony Leung or Andy Lau will make the perfect undercover cops. It does away with the artsy noir feel of its predecessors and works like a typical Hong Kong police and thief drama.

True, this may not leave any impact with viewers, but its nice ensemble of alpha male actors make up for it. Tsang is the epitome of the bad guy with a good heart, Ng is entertainingly believable as the mobster father, and Cheung sheds his usual goody two shoes image to play a character you’d instantly despise.

Watch out for a favourite scene where Miu and Ng talk about being fathers while waiting for their sons to be dismissed from school. Two men from different sides of the law affectingly bring this average production one notch higher. And hopefully, you’d stop comparing this movie with the many others you’ve seen before.

SPECIAL FEATURES :

This Code 3 disc contains both the Mandarin and Cantonese trailers for the movie itself, as well as a trailer for Jacob Cheung’s A Battle of Wits.

AUDIO/VISUAL:

The visual transfer maintains the gritty look of the movie. Other than the awkwardly dubbed Mandarin audio track, it is really commendable that the distributor had included the original Cantonese language track for this disc too. If only we can watch Hong Kong movies on the big screen in their original language tracks too – anybody out there listening?

MOVIE RATING:

DVD RATING:

Review by John Li

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. Heavenly Mission

. Diary

. Fatal Contact


. Rob-B-Hood

. On The Edge

. The World's Fastest Indian

. Dragon Tiger Gate


. Unarmed Combat

. Crazy Stone


. Election 2


. We Are Family

. I Not Stupid Too


. The Shoe Fairy

. 2 Becomes 1

. 49 Days

. REAL

. Dragon Eye Congee

. A Chinese Tall Story

. Perhaps Love

. SPL

. Election


. The Myth


. Wait 'Til You're Older


. The Maid

 

 


This review is made possible with the kind support from Scorpio East


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