Before Matt and Leo were moles playing cat and mouse games in dark movie theaters and abandoned rooftops in Boston, Andy Lau and Tony Leung played a similar game in Hong Kong in the 2002 film that was the inspiration for Martin Scorsese's The Departed entitled Infernal Affairs. The plots and turns of the two movies are nearly identical with Lau and Leung both being police recruits in the same class. While Leung is sent to infilitrate the local Triads, Lau is a mole for that gang. Soon the two are assigned with finding their respective counterpart, and soon ever increasing danger lies in their paths. This is a film that I regretted knowing what was going to happen, although the plot is so good and the film is so well made, I still found myself wondering what was going to happen during intense moments (particularly the two rooftop scenes). I would hate to take anything away from the original, but I do think The Departed is the superior film, with its fabulous dialogue from William Monahan distinguishing it. Still, this is a fine import, with the exception of an unnecessary flashback mechanism that mars the film, and a brilliantly conceived police thriller that inspired one of the crowning achievements of the previous decade in American cinema.
