Infernal Affairs III

Having now watched the entire INFERNAL AFFAIRS trilogy, I've concluded that only the original film was necessary. The first sequel took the form of a prequel, an entirely extraneous piece of back story that adding nothing to the original and would have worked better as a stand alone movie. This, the second sequel, is even worse, a muddled attempt at tying together both prequel and sequel, adding in lots of entirely superfluous stuff and additional characters that are all entirely necessary.

Tony Leung returns to the movie series, but his scenes amount to nothing more than padding; his character was so carefully delineated in the first movie, there's entirely nothing to add. Andy Lau has the most interesting role in a sub-plot that follows on directly from the first film's, and this section of the film was the most entertaining. But it's still rather unnecessary, and would have been much better had it been tied up at the end of the first film, as Scorsese did when he remade the series as THE DEPARTED.

Overall, INFERNAL AFFAIRS 3 feels confused and muddled. The constant jumping between past and present happens so much that it's ridiculous, and it becomes overwhelming clear that this was only rushed out to make a quick buck or two after the success of the original film.

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 last installment in the Infernal Affairs trilogy is surprisingly slow moving, but still has the high production values and intricate story of the first two, although as a whole it is slightly less engaging than the preceding films. There have been a lot of comparisons between this trilogy and The Godfather films, and the similarities in story-telling structure and the overall arc of the sequels are definitely there, although I have to admit that I think the Godfathers exist on an entirely different level as these films. The Infernal Affairs films are good, but they're not THAT good.

There is a lot of work in bringing together the stories of the first two films and it definitely adds to them, but I found this one to be too slow moving, although the pace picked up by the third act and the final scene is definitely impressive.

On the other hand, the trilogy ends on a serious downer - "Ksitigarbha Sutra - 'People of the like shall be cast into the Avinci Hell and will continue to suffer from Kalpas to Kalpas with no means of escape.'

I may as well just admit that I don't know the meaning or source of this quote, but it sure seems like a depressing note to end the trilogy on. Nevertheless, despite being just a little bit of a let-down (like countless trilogy finales), Internal Affairs 3 is a necessary closure, and Asian cinema fans are sure to eat it up.

Where Scorsese's recent version of Infernal Affairs all the loose ends pretty much got tied up during the film whereas with the original we were left with an open (but much more emotionally impacting) conclusion. The first sequel was a prequel so part III was left to pick up afterwards while also going back over the original film and filling in more detail. In doing this it marks itself out as one that is aimed at the fans rather than being just out for money. The downside of this is of course that if you are not a fan you might find this hard to follow along with (and if you have not seen the first film then just forget it totally). Personally I thought the first film was an enjoyable cop thriller but I didn't think it was brilliant or developed characters that well but the tension was great. With the third film the focus was very much on the characters rather than the tension – with the fate of Ming being the modern thread that holds the film together.

If you are into the characters and the parallels with the original film then it is worth seeing because it does do it pretty well. It does ask you to pay attention but it rewards you if you do and have been. There is action but mostly it is the Ming's ongoing struggle with who he is that the film pays most attention to. I quite liked this but must confess that this film still didn't do a great job of bringing out the characters that well and it is more the events and revelations that kept me interested rather than an emotional buy-in with the characters. Lau is perhaps partly to blame for this because I thought he was buttoned a bit too tight – it was understandable in some regards but the third film should have been the point where he shows more of a breakdown (which he does, but again it is events rather than emotion). Leung is good again but his scenes don't seem as relevant or as interesting within this film – again it is probably to do with the lack of emotional buy-in I felt with his character; his performance is natural and engaging though. Outside of these two the rest of the cast are pretty good. Again I didn't think much of the use of Chen but Wong and Tsang are both solid in their small returns.

Overall then an effective and enjoyable film if you love the series and the characters; an interesting one if you have seen the first two films and a pointless one if you are looking to join in at the last minute. Tying up the loose ends of the series, the film isn't tense enough or emotionally impacting enough to be worth a look unless you are really already into the characters but it is an interesting way to bring things to an end – with restraint and tragedy rather than excess.

Infernal Affairs 3 builds cleverly on the plotline of the first movie, but with its complex story and frequent switches between past and present, is likely to seriously confuse anyone who comes to it without having seen Part 1 first to understand the two main characters. For those who have, this film brings out further details of the relationship between the two, superbly played again by Tony Leung and Andy Lau. With frequent flashbacks, the film focuses on extending the story of Triad mole Ming (Andy Lau), warping up the tension as the stresses of his double life become intolerable. Leon Lai's usual expressionless performance, which mars his other films, works well here as it leaves you few clues about his character's motivation until the climax.

If you enjoyed Part 1, you will enjoy this. (I haven't seen Part 2 yet.)