Hong Kong director Johnnie To is known for very specific types of films, namely crime thrillers, so it should come as no surprise that his latest film, Drug War, is right up that alley. What makes this film special is that it is his first mainland Chinese film to be released which means that he had to navigate the murky waters of Chinese censorship to bring this one to theaters.
In Drug War, drug cartel boss Ming (Louis Koo from Accident) is arrested after a police raid discovers his body in a hospital after crashing into a restaurant. Willing to do anything to avoid both prison and the automatic death sentence, Ming decides to team up with the undercover anti-drug agents led by Captain Zhang (Honglei Sun) to bring down not only his own operation but other crime bosses as well, one boss, drug and money exchange at a time.
What’s cool about the film is it takes us up each step of the drug dealing distribution ladder, from the guys who make the product, to the transporters, the puppet hot shots and then the actual brains behind the larger operations. Each step of the ladder is another round of betrayal that adds another layer of police craftiness and strategy to the mix that you don’t always expect. In connection to this, one aspect that I really appreciated was that To showed the cops who were on this goose chase actually getting tired, that they weren’t invincible and that if the right move was made they could be exploited during moments of mental and physical weakness.
The strength of the film lies with both the acting and the uncertainty of Ming’s intentions. Ming cooperates with the cops pretty well for the most part but there is an aura of distrust that surrounds him which keeps you waiting in anticipation as you expect him to turn on the police and make a break for it. Louis Koo is able to keep you completely off guard with his performance which helps keeps you engaged throughout. While Koo is solid, it’s Honglei Sun that steals the show as Captain Zhang. Zhang is a very serious, no nonsense cop who doesn’t play games and doesn’t give Ming many chances to play him, at the same time when he goes undercover and disguises himself as a crime boss named Haha, his persona is exactly the opposite and his impersonation is down pat. It’s extremely impressive to watch the quick shift in personalities and adds a comedic layer of entertainment to a film that’s mostly serious.
I only had two (major) issues with the film, one of the related to authenticity and one related to the ending. W
ith regards to the first one, when Ming crashes into the restaurant and Captain Zhang and his partner Xiao Bei go to check out the scene, they touch everything without gloves which isn’t something you normally do at a crime scene. I don’t know if things work differently in China but that usually doesn’t help if you want to preserve evidence. As for the ending SPOILER I felt that after Captain Zhang was shot he should have been dead on all accounts. Instead he was somehow able to handcuff himself to Ming so that he wouldn’t escape. On top of that, the handcuffs wouldn’t break after being shot with a gun and, for some reason, Ming didn’t think to look for a key in the guys pocket. END SPOILER This was the only part of the film that didn’t seem realistic and it felt more like a copout, as if the film had to end with a message that crime never gets away.
For the most part, Drug War is a tense crime ride that takes a refreshing spin on the concept of a kingpin turning into a snitch. While the story is cool, it’s the acting, pacing and actual breakdown of the film that makes it so engaging and easy for crime fans to enjoy. For fans of Johnnie To you’ll really enjoy this one as it is a nice step-up from some of his more recent crime endeavors like Life Without Principle and Vengeance.
Rating: A cool crime flick about snitching on Chinese drug trade leaders (6.8/10)
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