The Stool Pigeon (2010)

This is more like Beast Stalker… Beast Stalker was a great film, filled with tension, fine acting and incredible tension. Similarly, the latest venture from Dante Lam in Stool Pigeon is a lot like the aforementioned film. The good news is the tension is there, the acting is good and the film is well directed. The bad news is that Stool Pigeon does not reach the heights of Beast Stalker. Nick Cheung reverses role with Nicholas Tse this time around. Cheung is the cop and Nicholas Tse is the stool pigeon. Cheung is now an established actor and earns his paycheck here with a gritty and emotionally complex character. Tse on the other hand is excellent and almost carries the film on his shoulders. The best thing of the lot, is once again veteran Liu Kai Chi. Liu steals the show and the effect is seen in the opening scene when he screams for help.Stool Pigeon is a good film, but not a great film. The reason is simple, it lacks the same amount of intensive tension of its predecessor and relies much on the acting of Tse and Cheung to take the film to the end. In say that, this is by a far a much superior effort to Fire of Conscience. Dante Lam is a capable director and he is at his best, when the characters in his films are allowed to express their truest potential or perhaps when they go crazy. Think Anthony Wong in Beast Cop and Nick Cheung in Beast Stalker. While both Tse and Cheung does fine turns, but neither are memorable. The film itself is not too memorable either. Instead what we got delivered to us is a film that entertains, some interesting chases, fine acting and positive direction. Easily a good film, but not great…(Neo 2010) I rate it 7/10www.thehkneo.com

This is what Hong Kong action crime thrillers are made of, with the sets being the real streets of the city upon which a high intense cop and robbers drama unfolds, and engaging characters that you actually care about. Already having given us Fire of Conscience earlier this year, it seems that there is nothing stopping hot property of the moment Dante Lam, who had helmed hard hitting same genre movies such as Sniper and Beast Stalker, which starred Liu Kai Chi, Nicholas Tse and Nick Cheung in leading roles reuniting for Stool Pigeon, looking set to have been improving film by film, and frankly is fast becoming a firm favourite storyteller of mine for Asian crime thrillers after Johnnie To with his consistency for gripping edge of your seat material.Thanks to the success of Infernal Affairs, we've seen in recent years a fair share of police dramas that deal with that of an undercover cop either battling his loyalty and allegiance, his return to a life of normalcy, or even have his persona spill over to real life through immense popularity in the cult character, like Laughing Gor. We know that the police have as part of their investigative arsenal the infiltration of undercover cops, but what's often overlooked is the role of the police informant in a leading role, until now.Dante Lam's story is extremely engaging in its examination of this peculiar outsourced role, where one is backed by the formalities of contract to define a relationship of transactional nature – material wealth in exchange for critical information, with bonuses to come with milestones achieved too! But such dangerous work close to where the action is with risks involved doesn't impact a police personnel, and this is clearly a win situation for the cops because this risk of being caught and maimed/killed in the course of an accidental discovery is transferred to a non-uniformed person, often someone desperate enough and comfortable to be living on the fringes of society, such as an ex-criminal. But being human, the cops have to learn to not become closer than necessary to their informants, so as to minimize guilty pangs should there be a need to no longer support them, and literally to throw them to the sharks for the greater good – the tragic irony of it all.Nicholas Tse and Nick Cheung swap sides now from Beast Stalker, and Tse plays the role of Ghost Jr, an ex-convict released only to find his sister being pimped by the underworld to pay off their dead father's gambling debt. After some deliberation he takes on the offer by Cheung's inspector Don, and officially in the eyes of the law Ghost becomes Don's informant, with a direct line to his handler and if necessary being able to waiver any arrest if made during the course of his work as an informant. His role is to infiltrate and report back on the gang activities of Barbarian (Chinese actor Lu Yi) and his wife (played by Kwai Lun-Mei), who are planning a jewellery shop heist, and are in need of a driver, where Ghost's skills will come into handy.Just like how Donnie Yen is discovering a new lease of life in his career as an action hero, Nick Cheung, once overlooked as leading man material, now finds new ground in crime thrillers, and being equally adept at both positive and negative roles just brings out the wide spectrum of his acting abilities. Dante Lam's cop character so far have always been flawed and pained, and being dedicated time meant a subplot involving his wife and relatives, which serve to deepen the character's backstory. In fact, the many human drama that Lam injects into his characters all provide them a lot of depth rather than to be just that one-dimensional role most cops and robbers story tend to trap themselves into .For instance, Kwai Lun-Mei's gangster moll role is something that's totally different from her usual sweetie pie ones, and she has enough of what it takes to pack a punch in this genre, which is surprising to say the least, in both delivery and providing to be the wildcard in Stool Pigeon. Boldly casting her against type is what I felt showed the courage of Lam and team to explore new ground (including Stool Pigeon's premise) and having seasoned actors, each of whom have won acting awards in recent years, also serves as an indicator that you're getting powerful performances all round.Action-wise, Stool Pigeon is no sitting duck. While time is devoted to the human drama, action is not just left to plain boring gunfights, as there are a lot more moments here involving chases from vehicles to foot and hide and seek that provides most of the thrills with its superb editing and execution, either in a crowded market evading a swarm of cops, or between apartment units to avoid detection. Like most Dante Lam films, the finale provides that bang for the buck, and Stool Pigeon has one of the most intense sequences he had come up with thus far, set in an abandoned school where the set design provides a visually arresting feast for the eyes, while your heart feels and roots for characters going all out for each other's throats.I'd prefer this over Fire of Conscience, and easily is a contender for one of the best films this year! Highly recommended, and I'll be more than keen to watch this in its original Cantonese language track.

Stool Pigeon marks Hong Kong director Dante Lam's latest production as a unofficial sequel to the 2008 hit, Beast Stalker. Pairing up with Nicholas Tse and Nick Cheung, the two leading actors from Beast Stalker, Stool Pigeon has no doubt, become one of the few worthy Hong Kong productions of the year.Beast Stalker features Tse as a detective and Cheung, a half-blind hit-man, crosses path with each other and teaming up together to stop a crime. In Stool Pigeon, both Tse and Cheung swapped their roles. Tse is now an ex-convict nicknamed Ghost, who unwillingly work as a informant for Don Lee (Cheung) in order to clear debts left by his late father and to rescue his only sister out of prostitution.Don plants Ghost into a group of robbers, lead by wanted criminal, Barbarian (Lu Yi). Don wants Ghost to provide the information about Barbarian's plot to rob a jewelry shop, so as to make an arrest. Ghost came across Barbarian's girlfriend, Dee (Kwei Lun Mei), whom both is in love with each other after meeting each other years ago. When Don found out Ghost has been forced to join the robbery, he find all ways to pull Ghost out of the situation.Lam have two productions released in theaters this year: Fire of Conscience and Stool Pigeon. While critics finds Fire of Conscience seems to be a disappointment, Stool Pigeon makes it better. Both movies discuss morality, with the leading characters seems to share a similar background. Lam creates a role of male police detective losing his loved ones, with two different outcomes: Leon Lai uses violence to solve crimes in Fire of Conscience; Nick Cheung redeems his sins quietly by helping the people around him quietly in Stool Pigeon.While Fire of Conscience seems to lack details in certain scenes, Stool Pigeon makes it up by detailing every aspects of the characters involved specifically. Here, we are able to see why Don is trying to pull Ghost out of the robbery: his hesitance in using his former informant leads to his informant being taken on revenge, thus losing the informant's sanity.Lam also displays how people standing on both sides of the law can appear in different scenarios. Fire of Conscience portrays two detectives standing on both sides of the law, with Leon Lai tracking down and stopping his new partner Richie Jen from leaning on the wrong side of the law. In Stool Pigeon, audience can tell directly that Nicholas Tse and Nick Cheung portrays two characters on different sides of the law easily, with one as a gangster, another a detective. However, both ends up in a path where both do not wish to take: which is to stand on the wrong side of the law, and using unethical methods to save themselves. Ultimately, both Tse and Cheung's role fits in the tag line of Stool Pigeon: Good and bad are both sinners.Taiwanese actress Kwei Lun Mei sheds her image of the girl next door with her role of Dee, who is a woman with a past. Kwei does not have much appearance in Stool Pigeon, but her role makes it important as anybody else, especially her role is more than just explaining about the relationships between Ghost and Barbarian. Both Tse and Cheung has appeared in taking a more matured role with more refined skills to portray them. Tse continues with his bad boy image, but much older and tougher than the similar roles he taken years ago. Cheung appears more refined throughout his acting careers, which he did not disappoints the audience.Overall, Stool Pigeon is not your usual crime thriller that does not require thinking. A through analysis on the plot and characters are required to understand Stool Pigeon, which definitely helps in one understanding the movie.

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)