The Insider

"In STALKER, Nicholas Tse plays a straight-arrow police sergeant, pitched against Nicky Cheung's ruthless, one-eyed kidnapper; whereas in PIGEON, the shoe is on the other foot, Cheung is a righteous police detective and Tse is the debt-ridden, ex-con stoolie he needs to protect from a dangerous gang of armed robbers. Both actors show confidence and versatility in their dual transitions. Cheung excels in a beastly, menacing presence in STALKER that the audience has never seen before, then morphs into a bespectacled, spiffy officer of the law whose reticent appearance dissembles his inner conflict; Tse is a single-minded redemption-seeking hot-head in STALKER, sometimes he can be schmaltzy, but goes low-key and quietly affecting in PIGEON where he really catches audience off guard for a maturer performance that elicits our commiserations."

read my full review on my blog: cinema omnivore, thanks.

THIS Dante Lam-Jack Ng collaboration smacks of the 2002 hit "Infernal Affairs". After watching it, I get the feeling that some Hollywood studio would be buying the rights for a remake, just like it had been done with "The Departed", Martin Scorsese's 2006 remake of "Infernal Affairs".

After "Beast Stalker" (2008), "Sniper" (2009) and "Fire of Conscience", "Stool Pigeon" looks set to cap Lam's career as film-maker. It grips its viewers from start to end - and never lets go! Police Inspector Don Lee (Nick Cheung) relies very much on his 'stool pigeons' to provide information for his drugs and criminal cases. However, an act of betrayal involving his last informant (played by Liu Kai Chi) leaves him wrecked with guilt. Don resolves to be more careful with his next 'stoolie', an ex-convict nicknamed Ghost (Nicholas Tse), whom Don plans to plant as getaway driver for a gold heist gang led by Barbarian (Lu Yi). Ghost, a street-racer who is determined to save his sister from loan sharks, looks like the man for the job. Problem is can they trust each other enough to see the job through? Movies about snitches, moles and informers are nothing new. However, Lam gives the genre a new dimension by delving deeper into the intricate relationship between police handler and informant. One sequence has Don telling his rookie officers to be friendly with their informers to win their trust, but not to be too close or they would lose their objectivity. This, of course, is easier said than done when lives and limbs are at stake.

Lam also takes great care with character development. The backgrounds of Don Lee and Ghost are nicely fleshed out (with even a twist or two) - and there is an emotional connection between Ghost and Barbarian's girlfriend Dee (Kwai Lun-Mei). This romantic touch not only lends narrative power and depth to the movie but also sets up the groundwork for the explosive and breath-taking ending.

Of course, for any movie to be compelling, it has to have a great cast. Nick Cheung has won Best Actor awards for his role in Beast Stalker and now it looks like Tse's turn. Nicholas gives Ghost such a powerful portrayal that it reminds me of a young Robert De Niro. His character is so full of anger and angst that it threatens to explode at any time. Cheung, as expected, has the audience rooting for him all the time, while Kwai steals the show every time she appears as the scheming gang moll.

There are some awkward and over-the-top scenes here and there but they do not mar the overall flow of the movie. - By LIM CHANG MOH (limchangmoh.blogspot.com)

'Brutally honest' would be the term I'd use to best describe this particular feature. Although the term 'brutal' is often associated with the violent content exhibited in a film, the level of blood in The Stool Pigeon never takes away from the storyline.

Don Lee (Nick Cheung) is an officer, still suffering the ramifications of past decisions that led to his former informant, Jabber (Kai Chi Liu) been discovered by the men he was snitching on. Although Lee is attempting to atone for his mistakes, this is made increasingly more difficult by his boss (Li Sheng-cheong), who adamantly believes the ends justify the means. If ever he had a white whale, it would be Barbarian (Lu Yi), a brilliant and psychotically violent thief, who has recently returned to promulgate another job.

Advised to insert an informant into his crew, Lee discovers Ghost Jr (Nicholas Tse), a young man on the verge of being released from prison, whose adept driving skills would make him an asset to Barbarian. Immediately turning Lee's offer down, Ghost Jr instead opts to spend time with his sister (Sherman Chung), who has been thrust into a life of prostitution to pay off their late father's debts. Though their father is largely unexplored, his actions have inevitably shaped their lives, which forces Ghost Jr to make a life changing decision.

Under Lee's directive, he initiates contact with Tai-Ping (Philip Keung), the leader of a gang whose cronies have assisted Barbarian on previous jobs. Descending into a world where every move could potentially be his last, the impact of danger, betrayal and paranoia continuously gnawing at the viewers, Ghost Jr quickly finds solace in Barbarian's unappreciated girlfriend Dee (Gwei Lun-mei), their immediate mutual attraction based upon a history that is explored over the course of the story. But events begin to spiral out of control, and one question that later emerges is this: will Ghost Jr live to see his dream of saving his sister fulfilled?

Although Lee advises officers who will later have informants of their own not to become emotionally attached, he, hypocritically, is unable to separate his personal feelings from the scenario. The use of scenes, detailing previous events that have recently occurred over the course of his career demonstrates that it is not only the informants who have a grueling existence, the police having an equally unpleasant role. Having made a number of decisions and mistakes that he is not proud of, Lee is able to admit his faults, making him a sympathetic and respectable character to have headlining this feature. The relationship he has with his wife Cher (Miao Pu) provides the audience with not only another source of emotional depth, but a source of hope for the future.

Due to his screen time, though Mr Tse's portrayal of Ghost Jr is just as proficient, it is overshadowed by the focus that seems to continuously drift towards Mr. Cheung. Despite been a criminal, and persistently asking for money, Ghost Jr is a likable character, not only for his gentlemanly qualities, but his unflinching devotion to family, wanting desperately to be his sister's hero. Ms. Mei also deserved additional screen time, her portrayal of Dee effectively developing a character who, although compassionately emotional, is capable of blunt ferocity, her life choices based upon what is happening right now, rather than on what is right.

As aforementioned, Lee's past is explored over the course of several scenes, while Ghost Jr and Dee's is often articulated verbally. It would have been beneficial for more depth to have been provided to their back-stories, though the decision to focus more on Lee may have been so audiences had the opportunity to acknowledge the sacrifices officers are forced to make, the shared pain of Ghost Jr and Dee needing no further attention, for their lives effectively represent the grueling nature of their existences.

A moment during the film involving a car race is quite possibly the film's most unenthusiastic moment, the scene, despite been well choreographed, lacking any real entertainment. Unable to live up to the outstanding visuals audiences have been awed by in the Fast and the Furious franchise, the scene appears to be comprised of cliché crashes and sounds that fail to cement the viewer in the moment. This aside, The Stool Pigeon is not an action movie, and for the most part, it's a plot driven police drama with substantial depth provided to its characters.

Although firearms make an appearance, more often than not, machetes and other serrated weapons are used by villainous characters as they pursue their hapless victims. The sound of flesh been sliced, alongside the screams of agony really impacts the viewer, with not only the horror articulated during these torturous moments, but the ever mounting tension.

Unlike other films dedicated to portraying the lives of police officers, The Stool Pigeon does not rely upon exaggerated footage, instead capturing the brutal realism of the lives officers and informants alike struggle to cope with. Emotionally in-depth and thought provoking, the audience are also inclined to work as detectives to piece the storyline, that isn't always set in chronological order, together, which makes for a continuously interesting feature. By the end of the film, viewers may feel the need to question who the real antagonists are in the film, and who really are the victims.

The term/title itself gets explained in the movie, which you should watch if you like Hong Kong action cinema in general. While most people are looking for the new John Woo (movie) or the new Johnnie To (movie), a veteran filmmaker almost slipped under the radar. And it would be a shame if you'd miss out on this one.

Action packed, but still with character driven plot(s), this will not let you rest easy. There is always moral dilemma involved and of course it is difficult to watch our hero go through some of the trials and tribulations he has to go through (and maybe not all that is supposed to be good, is actually good). That is another thing that you either love or hate. Thank you Dante Lam for this excellent movie

Dante Lam has found something of a creative muse in writer Jack Ng of late, and their latest "The Stool Pigeon" marks their fourth straight collaboration together. It is also crafted out of the same mould as their earlier "Beast Stalker", "Sniper" and "Fire of Conscience", and audiences who have enjoyed the morally ambiguous characters and their dilemmas in these male-driven films will certainly enjoy this latest.

Reuniting the duo of Nick Cheung and Nicolas Tse from "Beast Stalker", Lam reverses the good guy-bad guy roles played by Cheung and Tse earlier. In this film, Cheung is on the right side of the law- he plays Detective Don Lee, a cop with his conscience wracked by guilt from the fate of his last stool pigeon (or slang for 'informant'). Jabber (played by Lam regular Liu Kai-Chi) was almost slashed to death after his cover was blown, and Don counts himself responsible for making the executive decision that blew Jabber's cover.

Tse is the ex-convict Ghost, whom Don seeks out to be his new informant after police receive word that a wanted robber Barbarian (Lu Yi) is back in town for another heist. Ghost needs money to pay off his father's debt to a loanshark, and reluctantly agrees despite being fully aware of the risks. For a good first hour, Lam meticulously sketches out the relationship between Don and Ghost- opposites in the eye of the law, but forced by circumstance to befriend and even trust each other.

A scene where Don teaches his fellow officers how to manage their informants illustrates this conflict beautifully- he tells them they have to win the trust of their stool pigeons so they can get as much intel as possible, but not to get too friendly at the same time for they may have to make difficult decisions in the line of duty. It is an unenviable position that Don himself knows personally, and many of the film's most poignant scenes come from Don's regular visits to Jabber who has since become a vagabond.

Besides delineating the complex relationship between police and informant, Lam also takes care to develop his characters. Don's frequent visits to a dance studio hint of a personal tragedy that is only revealed later; and Ghost's feelings for Barbarian's girlfriend, Dee (Kwai Lun-mei), only make it more difficult for him to extricate himself later on. The characters in Lam's films have always been flawed in one way or another, but the attention that Lam pays this time round to his two central characters- Don and Ghost- ranks among one of his best.

Amply deserving of praise too are Cheung and Tse. Having won Best Actor at both the Hong Kong Film Awards and Golden Horse Awards for his role in "Beast Stalker", Cheung turns in a wonderfully subtle performance here that conveys his character's anguish both in his line of work and his personal life. Because Cheung's acting is more restrained here, Tse gets the chance to be in the spotlight- and he more than delivers in a nuanced portrayal that fleshes out Ghost's struggles tiptoeing on the fine line of the law.

Lam brings the intricately and impeccably plotted first half to a head in the next hour of the film, and audiences familiar with Lam's films may naturally be expecting big-scale action sequences like those in "Sniper"or even "Fire of Conscience". But perhaps surprisingly, he doesn't give his audience the kind of visceral gratification this time round, and some may find his unusual restraint a little frustrating.

Not to say that he has lost his flair- an exciting foot chase down the tight cramped aisles of Hong Kong's street markets culminating in a midday car chase will set to rest any such doubts- nor that this isn't a taut thriller. It is both, but Lam often ratchets up the tension before an impending action scene and then defuses it without his usual signature guns-and-bullets extravanganza.

It is still no reason why you should miss this thriller. While it doesn't feature as much by way of action as one would expect from a usual Dante Lam film, its strong character-driven drama still packs a solid punch. At a time when the Hong Kong film industry seems inundated by big-budget China co-productions, Dante has stuck to his guns to deliver a gritty true-blue Hong Kong cop thriller set entirely in the iconic streets of Kowloon. In a year of lean offerings from Hong Kong, this will probably go down as one of the year's best.