Absolutely amazing

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

TRIAD UNDERWORLD is a little masterpiece of cinema. Though it was made in 2004 it is only now available in this country courtesy of Palisade Tartan Asia Extremes, but the wait was well worth it. Not only is the story (as written by Chi-Long To and Director Ching-Po Wong) mesmerizing through out the film, but the fact that it pulls a Guy de Maupassant-type ending that takes the audience by complete surprise. The aspect that makes this film an art work is the extraordinary creative cinematography by Charlie Lam and Kenny Lam: every frame of film is like a masterpiece of lighting and brilliant use of colors that give clues to the characters and the story - shots taken from beneath a glass floor during a fight, interludes of a near blank black screen except for windows of carefully suggestive color and luminous lighting, extensive use of slow motion photography during the very choreographed fight sequences all contribute to the mood of the Hong Kong underworld in the finest manner. The musical score by Mark Lui also deserves special recognition: often soundless mayhem is accompanied by ballades using both Eastern and Western thematic material. The story seems rather straightforward: Triad leader Hung Yan-jau (Andy Lau)'s wife gives birth to a baby boy, and event that causes Hung to consider considers leaving the world of the gangsters. Hung's closest lifelong friend Left Hand AKA Lefty (Jacky Cheung) reminds Hung that Hung has always said he would leave the crime world if he had a wife and child. Lefty is more the playboy and both Hung and Lefty own spectacular restaurants. Should Hung decide to leave, taking his wife (Chien-lien Wu) and newborn son to New Zealand then the head of the Triad would pass to Lefty. Despite disagreements the two men stick together, especially when it becomes known that two young members of a rival gang Wing (Shawn Yue) and Turbo (Edison Chen) are out to become the next leaders of Hong Kong's famous 'jiang- hu' underworld and they are ordered by the competitive gang to Triad to kill Hung. There are brutal encounters and balletic street fights that take place outside the seeming quiet elegant restaurant dinner being observed by Hung and Lefty in honor of Hung's newborn boy. And at the denouement the roles of all concerned are revealed in a terrifically exciting manner! What had seemed to be action inside and outside is actually an amalgam of past and present! The cast is uniformly excellent and the pace of direction is impeccable in arriving at the surprising ending. But the true glory of this film is the cinematic magic: a more artistic use of film would be difficult to imagine. This is one of those movies that should be part of the libraries of audiences who love fine thrillers and art lovers who are keen on performance art. Highly recommended. Grady Harp

Andy Lau stars in the the story of Hung a triad leader who is looking to get out due in part to the birth of his son. Unfortunately a contract has been put out on him and he expects that some time in the next few hours some one is going to try to kill him. At the same time as the story of Hung unfolds we also witness the story of two young friends who have taken a contract to kill a triad leader.Well acted by a cast of Hong Kong stalwarts including Lau, and made with a technical flash that would put many western films to shame this is a good, but not quite great tale of friendship and loyalty. The problem for me is that there is often too much of a reliance of the technical wizardry to cover up the fact that this is, ultimately, a story thats been done dozens of times before (especially in Hong Kong). Take for example one of the later scenes between Hung and Lefty, Sitting at a table the pair are having a discussion about how they got to this situation. It a beautiful well craft scene that is amped up too much by having the table the pair is sitting at rocking back and forth while they are talking, its an odd effect that distracts from what they are saying. Earlier scenes with the young gangsters in the club use flashy techniques for seemingly reason other than to look cool. To me it seems that the filmmakers felt they couldn't trust the story, which is well worn but serviceable, to be told by the excellent cast of characters.I liked the movie a great deal but I wanted to love it.Is it worth seeing? Yes, the cast is first rate and its not really a bad film, just one that seems to self aware to let the film be what it is.

From start to the finish "Blood Brothers" looks slick! The cinematography is excellent! All the actors are dressed stylish and look very cool! And the music score is fitting! The acting is decent but could have been much better! The story is a bit confusing at first! The twist ending will explain most of this confusing story! Don't expect much of the plot! Apart from the wonderful ending the story doesn't seem to have a point! I did miss depth in the characters! I want to know what makes them tick! And why they act the way they do! Sure there are enough scenes that provide insight of the main characters lives! But not enough to really understand the characters! Why should I be interested in these characters! Since they aren't real interesting! There is one scene that is quite disturbing and doesn't make any sense! This is the scene where Turbo gets beaten up! The only reason I can come up is that this scene provides a contrast and makes the twist ending more effective! Overall I enjoyed this movie but could have been much better if the characters would have been more interesting!

First of all, I have to say, the acting in this film is aces! Andy Lau and Jacky Cheung are terrific as two best friends who are powerful gangsters. Edison Cheng and Shawn Yue are also very engaging to watch as two young men involved in the gangster underworld. The scenes, the camera work, the peculiarly cheery music playing in the background all add to the pure visual pleasure. This is a great stylish looking film. One of the most watchable scenes in this movie was simply Andy Lau's character and Jacky Cheung's character having a meal in an empty, elegant Italian restaurant. These two actors play off each other very well. It was riviting to watch them talk to each other.But the story? I had trouble figuring out the story. I rented this movie without English subtitles and my understanding of cantonese is very general.I watched it twice to figure out everything. The twist in the end is surprising but not very satisfying.What I got from this movie was this: this is not really a typical Hong Kong gangster film. This film is really about the deep friendship and love (I mean the platonic kind) between two good friends.Is this film worth watching? Absolutely. Is the story good? So so. Even though I was not particularly satisfied with the ending, I still think it's a film worth watching and enjoying.