Infernal Affairs: A thrilling ride

Infernal Affairs, well at least the first movie of the trilogy, is a very well thought out and tense movie that keeps the audience on the edge of their seats for its full length. It has everything required in a movie about cops and organized crime, but more importantly the movie does a good job of showing us care about the characters, the motivations they have and what drives them.

This is done through the four main characters that the audience comes to know over the course of the movie. Superintendent Wong Chi-shing, Triad boss Hon Sam, undercover cop Chan Wing-yan and undercover Triad agent Senior Inspector Lau Kin-ming. All four characters end up taking part in a massive game of chess between cops and criminals throughout the film.

And while this chess game between characters rises to a tension, it is ultimately the movie four main characters that carry the movie towards the end, as the audience will soon find themselves caring about them. A part of this is because the characters aren’t simply black and white, but pretty much very complex in motivation. However this especially applies to Senior Inspector Kin-ming and undercover cop Wing-yan.

In doing this, it adds to the atmosphere of the movie, driving home the risk that all the characters face if they are to lose the game. Nothing is held back, towards the characters as they face one challenge after the other, as they try to survive the events of the movie and the outcome of each other’s moves.

Characters wise, while Superintendent Chi-shing and Traid boss Hon Sam’s background story aren’t explored in this movie, undercover cop Wing-yan and Senior Inspector Kin-ming are the main focus in which the audience is able to see the hardship they face and the knife edge that they are both at.

In short, Infernal Affairs does a good job of creating an interesting story that will keep the audience engrossed in the story and the characters.

Of course, like any movie there are always negatives and Infernal Affairs does have a few. The majority of the music doesn’t stand out but there are a few piece that do and add to the movie overall atmosphere. And the massive cast of main characters does make the movie a little to long, as it moves from one developing plot to another. Also for some, it can make plot a little hard to follow especially if a viewer isn’t paying attention.

Still despite this the movie does a good job, showing us the characters and what drives them towards their own goals. It wouldn’t be surprising if you ended up cheering or supporting more then one character in the movie.

Anyways, if this all sound familiar, it should because Infernal Affairs is the movie which The Departed is based on. In terms of which is better, well it’s up to the viewer to decide for themselves after watching both movies.

Infernal Affairs was released in 2002 and while it hasn’t aged since, the plot and the characters still hold up. If anyone is interested in watching the movie, it’s available on Netflix now.