Drug War

[Drunk Monk]

If you haven't tuned into director Johnny To, he's like the John Woo for this decade. He's the new master of Chinese gangster flicks. Only instead of balletic gunplay and homoerotic undertones, To is more about visceral firefights and gritty sociopaths. DW is his latest, a tale of undercover narcs, meth makers and stool pigeons (heavy emphasis on stool as there is an inordinate amount of defecting in this film). It captures the seedy side of Mainland China, and Louis Koo is particularly oily. The plot moves along briskly and sustains a fair level of tension, but it's really all about the gunplay. There are two big firefights, one in the middle and the finale, and that's the payout. The final battle is very satisfying.

[cranefly]

There is no better subject for a movie than defection, lemme tell ya.

I've long been a big fan of Johnnie To, but then not so much. He blew me away with a couple of his early efforts. Exiled stands way out as a masterpiece of suspense from the get-go. Action plus effective love-hate tension among characters. But then I fell out of like with him after several vehicles that seemed soulless. I just couldn't find any compelling characters in a string of his movies. I remember one movie that opened with a single-shot 10-minute gun battle on a street, involving lots of people and several vehicles all in constant motion. While I admired the technical achievement, the movie itself greatly underwhelmed me.

Maybe it's time to call off my defection, if he's back to fixing omelets the way I like 'em. I'll give this one a gander.

[Drunk Monk]

Oops. I mistyped. I didn't mean to say 'defecting'. I meant to say 'defecating'. That changes everything, right?

OK, Drug War is no Exiled. I agree - that's To's gangster masterpiece. You're spot on about that first scene - it's brilliant filmmaking in every way - the tension, the mood set by the environment, the interaction/introduction of the characters and the way it explodes when the time comes. And Exiled maintains that artistic and storytelling integrity through the whole film. It's truly a great one - one of the best Triad films ever.

IF YOU ONLY SEE ONE JOHNNY TO TRIAD FILM, SEE EXILED.

I actually just saw it again yesterday (Netflix) because of your post here made me go back for it and that just seemed like the right movie to start out the new year (my brain was seriously fried after NYE). Drug War isn't nearly as good. It has some similar elements (To just loves that misty puff of blood when people get shot), but it's just not on the level of Exiled, so if you go into it expecting more of that, your defecation will be reaffirmed.

As for To, he's doing a musical next. Seriously.

Originally approved as a local production in February, Johnnie TO 杜琪峰's musical Contemporary Musical Design for Living 華麗上班族 has now been re-approved as a co-production by Beijing Hairun Pictures Co Ltd 北京海潤影業有限公司, Edko Films Ltd 安樂影片有限公司 and Milkyway Image (HK) Ltd 銀河映像（香港）有限公司. Sylvia CHANG 張艾嘉, who wrote the musical (pictured) that the film is based on, is listed as writer. Chang, CHOW Yun-fat 周潤發 and Eason CHAN 陳奕迅 are set to star.

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I feel ya on your take on To lately, but I will always give To his props because of his ultimate masterpiece - The Heroic Trio. That's another one I've been meaning to watch again because it's on Netflix. They've had it for as long as I've subscribed and I keep toying with watching it again. If it goes away before I get to see it, which is what just happened to the Batman movie (66 version). But I just found it on YouTube, so maybe I'll watch it there. Hulu+ picked up the Soong Sisters recently, which like Trio, stars both Michelle and Maggie, and I've never seen that, but I suspect it won't be nearly as entertaining.