By now, Shawn Yue and Edison Chen must be very familiar with acting with each other, from "Infernal Affairs" trilogy as young Tony Leung/Andy Lau. They have pleasant chemistry in this much-hyped 2004 Hong Kong movie as best friends who are looking to score big to climb up the triad ladder.
While I felt the film lacked substance in terms of plot (most of the second half involves Andy and Jacky sitting at a restaurant, talking about their clashing ideologies when it comes to being "the boss"), the slow-motion fighting sequences in the rain are visually entertaining. If anything, watching Jacky Cheung, one of the most talented and popular Hong Kong singers of our time, act in a film is always a delight.
The plot is actually quite simple. Hung (Andy Lau) is a big triad boss whose wife has just given birth to their child. He knows he is being targeted by some enemies in-house, possibly by one or all three of his sub-bosses. His best friend, "Lefty" (Jacky Cheung), is rather ruthless and wishes to annihilate all the sub-bosses to protect his friend. But Hung has different ideas about what it means to be a boss.
In some other part of the town, Yik (Shawn Yue) plays the very character who is hired to assassinate Hung. He, too, is helped by his loyal sidekick, Turbo (Edison Chen). Their story is drawn in a parallel to the main plot; in the end, the two stories overlap quite nicely. Hung is Yik. Lefty is Turbo. Not literally, of course, but the fact that there will always be someone coming after you if you are the boss just about sums up the triad life, or jiang hu . After all, as Hung is stabbed to death in the rain, he reminisces with Lefty, who is also dying by his side, that that is how they got their big break in first place; by killing some other boss way back when. It's a cycle that never ends.
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