646f9e108c A devastating dilemma changes the fate of three cops when an undercover operation against a notorious Thai drug lord goes horribly wrong. Three lifelong friends working in the Hong Kong Police Department's Narcotics Bureau get caught up in a case with Southeast Asia's most powerful drug lord, but when the sting operation fails, they are forced to make a devastating decision - two can live, but one must die. Five years later, the two vow revenge for their fallen friend, but when they end up competing against each other for their own lives, will brotherhood be sacrificed again? At the point when Lau yield at his superior (with a strong baritone voice sourcing from the lower belly regions) 'It's a life you're dealing with !!!' it was pretty exhilarating. I thought this might be different.<br/><br/>Then the 3 main actors got together for a lunch and started singing.. I can see the sentimental setup already. Further more with another signing episode when deciding to go to Thailand or not. By the way, Nick Cheung's goofy hair style and demeanour sort of too childish and maybe gave away the 2nd half? Yet, at the climax of the Thailand scenes, the 'other' philosophical writer came back!!!! The "choose 1 of 2"… difficult choice Lau has to make breath life back into the narrative again. I would have like a bit more time there to show the difficulty (maybe like Good/Bad/Ugly with the 3 minute song extreme close up ending).<br/><br/>Yet over yet, when the 8 face Buddha comes to HK and messiness resumes. Then until the rooftop scene where "choose 1 of 2" philosophical question came full circle.. I thought this could be revenge well played but really how would they follow it up? then came a Better Tomorrow ending that is maybe 1/2 the effort of all the footage before it. Sighhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…. The Chinese action-drama "The White Storm" took me completely by surprised and I consider it even as the best movie of the year 2013. It's an emotional and almost epic movie about anger, betrayal, despair, forgiveness, friendship, loneliness, loss, love, regret and revenge.<br/><br/>Almost all elements convinced me in these two hours and twenty minutes. First of all, there is the story that comes around with moments of tension and action but there are also calmer and even philosophical passages. The film has one major twist and several more original ideas but the whole thing always remains realistic enough to convince and never gets boring either.<br/><br/>The acting in this movie is simply brilliant. The three main actors Ching Wan Lau, Louis Koo and Nick Cheung portray three unique and despair-ridden characters that perfectly complement each other. As a viewer you really care about this characters but as this is no Hollywood movie, don't expect a complete happy end.<br/><br/>Despite a gripping plot around drug dealing issues in beautiful locations in China and Thailand among others, great chasing, martial arts and shooting sequences and flawless images, sounds and words, it's especially the emotional content of the movie that made this film not only a very good but an excellent movie. There were many sad but still a few hopeful moments in this movies that got me extremely close to crying which very rarely happens to me in movies.<br/><br/>If you are a fan of Hongkong action cinema of the past three decades, intense thrillers with a few twists and credible dramas with gripping characters and touching dialogues, you must watch this movie. This is more than just a highly entertaining and modern movie. Don't be surprised to still think for several days about this film and to have a few tears in your eyes. If we consider the touching biopic "Mao's Last Dancer" from 2009 as Australian movie, then this here is by far the best Chinese film since Jet Li's "Fearless" in 2006.
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291 weeks ago