Oh No... Another Hollywood Remake
All right, it is not just another Hollywood remake. But the remake of (the greatest HK film ever; I'm biased of course) Infernal Affairs by the Martin Scorsese.
I have read the numerous, mostly positive reviews of The Departed before watching it yesterday. I tried to keep an open mind and approached it from a neutral perspective.
I agree with the reviews. It is unfair to compare IA and Departed. One has to judge the second without bias for the first. Which makes me ill suited to review Departed.
That is not to say that it isn't a decent, riveting movie. Maybe if it wasn't based on IA, maybe if I haven't watched IA a gazillion of times to memorise the dialogues, the nuance, the set pieces etc, maybe I'd like Departed more.
The good things: Leonardo di Caprio indeed proves that he is a good actor. His portrayal of the tormented police mole in the gang business carried the movie. Marky Mark, oops, Mark Wahlberg, was also good as the typical cop who swears everytime he opens his mouth. So was Alec Baldwin. But did every f****ng cop in this movie have to swear? The actress who played the shrink role was also good (and yes, I agree that the shrink-patient angle here worked far better than I expected).
The bad things: Mat Damon's characterisation was so one-dimensional I could not gather enough sympathy for his character unlike in IA when Andy Lau showed torture and torment in his role. Unfortunately, I do not agree that Martin Sheen was good in this movie, primarily because he was not made to do a lot than stop catfights between Mark and Leo. And the worst part of the movie: Jack Nicholson. He was even worse than the bit actors who played Chinese triad members (bad Cantonese, bad acting). It goes to show that sometimes, improvisation does not work. I missed Eric Tsang's attack on the role with quiet and calm dignity but with enough cunning. Jack played his just to a** everyone off (and steal the spotlight).
And what was with the f****ng ending?! Absolutely hilarious and stupid.
As the credits were rolling up the screen, I waited for the IA credit. But the idiots at the cinema switched it off making me swear: F*ck off. That's what you get for watching a Scorsese movie.
I have read the numerous, mostly positive reviews of The Departed before watching it yesterday. I tried to keep an open mind and approached it from a neutral perspective.
I agree with the reviews. It is unfair to compare IA and Departed. One has to judge the second without bias for the first. Which makes me ill suited to review Departed.
That is not to say that it isn't a decent, riveting movie. Maybe if it wasn't based on IA, maybe if I haven't watched IA a gazillion of times to memorise the dialogues, the nuance, the set pieces etc, maybe I'd like Departed more.
The good things: Leonardo di Caprio indeed proves that he is a good actor. His portrayal of the tormented police mole in the gang business carried the movie. Marky Mark, oops, Mark Wahlberg, was also good as the typical cop who swears everytime he opens his mouth. So was Alec Baldwin. But did every f****ng cop in this movie have to swear? The actress who played the shrink role was also good (and yes, I agree that the shrink-patient angle here worked far better than I expected).
The bad things: Mat Damon's characterisation was so one-dimensional I could not gather enough sympathy for his character unlike in IA when Andy Lau showed torture and torment in his role. Unfortunately, I do not agree that Martin Sheen was good in this movie, primarily because he was not made to do a lot than stop catfights between Mark and Leo. And the worst part of the movie: Jack Nicholson. He was even worse than the bit actors who played Chinese triad members (bad Cantonese, bad acting). It goes to show that sometimes, improvisation does not work. I missed Eric Tsang's attack on the role with quiet and calm dignity but with enough cunning. Jack played his just to a** everyone off (and steal the spotlight).
And what was with the f****ng ending?! Absolutely hilarious and stupid.
As the credits were rolling up the screen, I waited for the IA credit. But the idiots at the cinema switched it off making me swear: F*ck off. That's what you get for watching a Scorsese movie.
posted by YupkiGirl at 11:29 am
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