Drug War (2013)

First off let me say that I love asian flicks and have for some time. Decided to watch Drug Wars after seeing reviews here and elsewhere. Lemme say that I have mixed feelings about it. Convoluted script and weak characters with some exceptions. Action scenes were also a letdown. Got a little dizzy trying to keep up with all the character switches going down during the drug deals. Loved the deaf guys in the movie. And I was majorly disappointed with the ending of this movie. I mean how much imagination does it take to show a lethal injection execution? And I get it, the main character still trying to make deals by selling out every drug dealer he knows even til the very end. A mixed bag for me.

As with the other Johnnie To films I have seen, I am left a bit torn. One part of me likes the visuals and story, but the other cannot deny that there's something missing. I have noticed a lot of To's films can be quite confusing at times. It's a mix of not enough character back-story, too many characters sometimes, and some iffy directing and editing. The storyline is quite simple in a way, and honestly a little under developed. We get launched straight into the story with a car crash, and all of the characters don't really get much development besides what is happening to them in the present moment. This leaves you a little confused on what every characters intentions are, ESPECIALLY Timmy, played by Joseph Koo. We aren't sure whether he is helping the cops, or trying to play them. Now obviously this is the point, especially towards the end, but it's even worse because we barely know his character. I would have liked to of seen a little of him before these events occur to at least get an idea of what he might be trying to do. This problem leads to an ending that is pretty unclear until it's pretty much all said and done with.Probably the best sequence is the final shootout, which could be compared to the shootout in "Heat", except it's not quite as tightly made. This sequence really shows of To's weaknesses in his films. Characters are all over the place, and because there are so many and we don't get to know them, we sometimes can easily mistake the side police characters for the side criminal characters. It can become quite confusing and gets in the way. We also bounce back and forth between different events in the shootout, making it confusing. Also, the choreography in regard to the shootout is weak. There's a lot of standing out in the open which police wouldn't do, and people get shot but just keep going as if they got hit by a paintball. We don't know if someone is shot and killed or just shot and injured, completely taking away from any emotional impact it could have. I will give the ending credit, because how it all turned out kind of surprised me. I didn't expect it to go down that way. The final scene may be a little anti climatic, but I guess they couldn't end it any other way.Overall I was let down. I heard good things about this, and it just kinda gave me a "meh" experience. Slow at times and some weak direction certainly brought the film down a lot. I know Johnnie To has a lot of fans, but I honestly don't think he's as good as they say. Clarity is what his films lack.

After his meth lab explodes, leaving him scarred and his wife dead, Timmy Choi (Louis Koo) is apprehended by the Chinese police for a crime that warrants the death penalty. In the custody of Captain Zhang (Sun Honglei), Choi sees only one option to avoid execution; turn traitor and help Zhang's undercover unit bring down the powerful cartel that he has been cooking for. As the stakes get higher, it becomes increasing unclear as to who has the upper hand, and who will dictate the endgame. Director Johnny To is a master of the crime film, and with "Drug War," he's created a near masterpiece of the genre. He never convinces us of being in anything but complete control of his multifaceted thriller, and exudes an unparallelled confidence in every scene and phenomenal set piece.To's electrifying picture recalls some of the best work of his great contemporaries. "Drug War" possesses the technical brilliance of Scorsese's "The Departed," the ground-level knowledge and surveillance of David Simon's "The Wire," the gritty realism of Michael Mann's best work, and by the end the blistering, double-fisted action of John Woo's prime. These elements don't come together as a derivative; To is a filmmaker at the top of his game, and makes the most of his cast, his influences, the Mainland setting, and a little of the grotesquerie that often has Hollywood shuddering; in a singular whole. Disparate from most Hong Kong action films, "Drug War" is a methodical, meticulous procedural first, exploiting a street-smart screenplay that knows the Chinese crime scene; and if that statement is indeed false, it never feels less than authentic. Much of the intensity derives from dialogue exchanges, and how rigorous both the cops and criminals try to not get made. Because of this well paced, equally well played dynamic, we never know who we should root for, and that's exactly the point. Mr. To's drama is incredibly intense... but then he pulls out all the stops. The last 20 minutes of "Drug War" is the show-stopping action set piece of the year. An extended shootout that's brutal, ambitious, and a masterpiece of it's kind. It's a marvel of physical filmmaking that also works as an unexpected plot device, violently flipping our conceived notions of these characters on their ear; clearing the way for a fittingly ironic, ice-cold conclusion."Drug War" might just be the best pure crime film of 2013. Technically and narratively stellar, it already seems like a minor classic of the genre.

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.