Drug War

I have to confess here in Canada I have no previous exposure to films by Hong Kong directors Johnnie To. Obviously he has done good work before but I just did not have the chance to see them. 'Drug War' was shown in a local art-house cinema and my like-minded friend alerted me to it.

Well, this was an interesting film experience - a Hong Kong director doing a police/drug dealer drama based in mainland China. Although other fictitious names were used for the cities, it is obvious the final, major shootout took place in a main street in Tianjin, a large city not far from Beijing. And much has been said about the long, protracted shoot-out scene toward the end, done in the John-Woo-ish manner.

I do not know if the version shown in mainland China - apparently the film did well in the box office there - is the same version that I saw in Canada. However, I suspected the China version has to be slightly edited. Still, (Spoiler Alert!) Johnnie To managed to get a film approved for the Chinese audience despite breaking one important rules: four desperadoes gunning down a large number of police officers, male and female. Now this used to be a big no-no in China. The police had to come up on top and the bad guys punished. The mass killing of cops was never presented to any screen in Chinese cinema. And then there is the lesser scene of RMB (Chinese currency) bills being burnt in place of 'ghost money' to honour the dead. Now this may just be part of drama but one can also argue about its possible political significance.

All in all, for a cops-against-bad-guys film this is well directed, with action scenes well staged and the cops and criminals well portrayed. There are also finer moments exploring humanity - e.g. a drug dealer's wife, fatally shot, still struggled to put her high-heel boots back on while dodging bullets. The ending is a tad depressing but is mostly likely closer to reality.

I'm not terribly familiar with Johnnie To's work, though I know he is one of China's biggest directors. Drug War is his latest film, a critically hailed masterpiece, so to speak, that rivals some of the best American crime films. And for the most part, it is a very good film. Gripping, with a tight rope plot written like a maze, Drug War very rarely lets up as it navigates from one stage of the plot to the other.

The film opens with Timmy Choi, a drug manufacturer, driving erratically until he runs through the entrance of a restaurant until he ends up in the hands of Captain Zhang. For dealing the amount of drugs that Choi is responsible for, the penalty is death, but Choi cuts a deal to help the police bring down a drug lord responsible for the sale of the narcotics. What follows is a near non-stop mission to get into the heart of the drug dealers and bring them down.

Drug War is the kind of crime action thriller that is very audience pleasing. There is plenty of suspense and mystery, as you're always on the edge of your seat in anticipation of what will happen next. It doesn't help that you're never quite sure who to trust or who will do what, especially Choi, who remains shifty and unsure. Sun Honglei is especially entertaining as the no nonsense Zhang, whose smart and constantly does his best to stay one step ahead of all those he's trying to bring down, including Choi. The writing for the film is very intricate and full of surprises. Coupling this are several action set pieces, the highlight of which are a middle section involving the police and two very capable partners of Choi and the ending, which is an absolutely crazy finale for this film.

If I have one real complaint about the film, it's the lack of depth. For all the technical skill and excellent writing and plot, we really don't get to know any of our characters. There is an attempt to make Choi somewhat sympathetic through a plot point about his wife, but Choi himself never really does much to make us like him or get us on his side. The same can be said about Zhang, who is little more than a hard nose cop trying to catch the criminals. There's never any real insight into either of these men, let alone the rest of the cast. It's a very basic and shallow cops and criminals tale, albeit, a very well written and produced one.

But these are minor complaints in the face of the entertainment at hand. This is arguably one of the best films of 2013, even at it's rating, and I urge anyone looking for to make up for some theatrical thuds to check this out. It's well worth it.

Gripping, smart, and a joy to watch.

The acting is excellent and the main leads are my favorite. Honglei, a hardened narcotic cop, is collected, methodological, and intelligent. You can tell he has earned his keep and has seen some crazy things behind those eyes. He's like the calm before the storm, readily break loose. He leads a high profiled operation to bust possibly the largest drug ring in the counntry and his lead is Louis, a captured meth supplier. Louis is not to be outshone: calculated, cunning, and above all, selfish. I find his character to be easily one of the greatest villains for he appears harmless but you can't really know what he has in mind. One scene you might think he has repented, another scene he might convince you otherwise. He is a great villain because he's deceptive, cunning, selfish, and he's willing to do anything for survival, including turning against his own kin but the catch is that he doesn't look capable of such evil. That's why he's great. Appearance is deceiving. The two main leads are completely opposite. The cop appears cold, distanced, and seemingly emotionless yet pursues a good cause and cares for his underlings while the crook appears warmer, more expressive, seemingly harmless yet inhuman underneath. Great contrast. The story is tight, the actions are neat - the shootout between the mute brothers and the cops and the grand finale scene are superb. A battle of both brain and brawn.

Normally I am not overly keen on movies that was based upon a story about drugs, as they usually tend to be stereotypical and be similar to one another. Yet, I was given the chance now in 2020 to sit down and watch the 2012 movie "Drug War" (aka "Du zhan") from Hong Kong heavyweight director Johnnie To. And of course I sat down to watch it, given my love and admiration of the Asian cinema.

"Drug War" was definitely entertaining, and it was a combination of a good and non-linear storyline, along with a good amount of action and a great cast ensemble that made the movie work out well.

It was nice to see the likes of Louis Koo in such a role that deviated so much from what he usually does, and he made it work well. It was also a blast to have Suet Lam and Hoi-Pang Lo on the cast list. Now, I am not very familiar with the work of Honglei Sun, but he definitely managed to carry the lead role quite well.

What I really enjoyed about the movie was how unpredictable it was, and how the movie took a massive turn of events towards the end on the scene in the middle of the road. That scene must be seen, because it can't be given the justice it deserves with written words. Nor would I want to ruin that for you.

I was genuinely entertained by the story, and the movie also had a good character gallery - which were portrayed by a great cast ensemble. And the movie had a good mixture of action and drama as well.

My rating of "Drug War" is a seven out of ten stars. This is definitely well worth the time, money and effort.

Johnnie To seems to be one of the most adept directors working in Hong Kong today; in the recent fifteen years or so he's built for himself an impressive body of work, concentrating almost solely in the thriller genre. His films usually involve cops or gangsters, all of them equally tough, and his detailed plots inevitably involve lots of death, betrayal, and bloodshed.

DRUG WAR is no different; it's the third To film I've seen, and by far the best. This is a pulse-pounding thriller that moves exceptionally fast, requiring the viewer to pay close attention throughout in order to keep up with everything that transpires. To's requirement above all else is for ultra-realism, making this a low key and often subtle piece of filmmaking, and an exemplary example for Hollywood directors keen to make their wham-bang thrillers.

Louis Koo headlines the cast in an intriguing role as a leading drug dealer who's caught by the police and forced to help them bring down some even greater criminals. What this leads to is a unique and fresh-feeling storyline, one that's hard to predict throughout, with the emphasis almost entirely on suspense sequences. Most of the action is limited to the climax, which stages a tense shoot-out on an even more epic scale than the one in HEAT. It's great stuff indeed and the perfect end to a great thriller.