Election 2 (2006) - A Review

 

Election 2 is a dark and grim sequel.

Election 2 (also known as Election 2: Harmony Is A Virtue and Triad Election) is a Triad/crime film released in Hong Kong in 2006 starring Louis Koo Tin-Lok, Simon Yam Tat-Wah, Gordon Lam Ka-Tung, Nick Cheung Ka-Fai, Lam Suet, Andy On Chi-Kit, Jonathan Lee Yat-Sing, and Wong Tin-Lam. Election 2 was directed by Johnnie To Kei-Fung, with action choreographed by Ling Chun-Pong. Election 2 is a direct continuation of Election (2005).

Louis Koo plays Jimmy Lee, a Triad member who wants to be a legitimate businessman.

In Election 2, Lam Lok's (played by Simon Yam Tat-Wah) two-year term as chairman of the Wo Lin Shing triad is almost up, and there are members who want the position: Kun (played by Gordon Lam Ka-Tung), an overtly aggressive triad member who feels he deserves a chance as chairman after going to jail for helping Lam Lok secure his position; Jet (played by Nick Cheung Ka-Fai), an assassin that Lam Lok has promised to make the next chairman; and Jimmy Lee (played by Louis Koo Tin-Lok), a business-savvy triad member who has a business deal going in mainland China, and wants to become a legitimate businessman. Because of his business success and the massive amount of money he is making for himself and the triad, Jimmy is the top choice for chairman.

Jimmy does not want to become chairman; he wants to move to China with his wife and start a family there. Unfortunately, Jimmy finds out that if he wants to do business in China, he will have to become chairman and help the police keep Wo Lin Shing under control. Jimmy accepts the offer, and then does everything he can to become chairman. While this is going on, we find out that Lam Lok does not want to give up his position, and wants to run for re-election (which is against the rules). Lam Lok does whatever he can to maintain control of the situation while also dealing with his son's (played by Jonathan Lee Yat-Sing) growing delinquency. As you can imagine, betrayals, murders, switching allegiances, and breaking of moral codes abound.

Simon Yam as Lam Lok. He does not want to give up his position as chairman.

Election 2 is a much darker and more violent movie than Election. The previous movie is kind of a set up to this movie (obviously). It is not really necessary to have seen the first movie to enjoy this one, but a lot of the things that happen in this movie hit harder if you've seen the first one. The story is very interesting, with a lot of twists and turns throughout. Power has changed Lam Lok, and he is not really the same person he was in the previous movie. Jimmy Lee goes from someone who wants nothing to do with the Triad life, to someone who become very proficient in Triad tactics. Some of the things Jimmy does shocks even the most hardened Triad members. Simon Yam is great in this, as is Louis Koo, who has a heck of a performance as Jimmy. At first you root for Jimmy, but as the movie goes on, you wonder how far he will go to become chairman.

Power and money corrupts...

 This movie has a lot more action than the first one, though there is only one fight scene once again. The fight involves knives and choppers/machetes. It's a pretty good fight, and once again fits the tone of the movie. Andy On, who is a martial artist, has a role in this movie, but he does not have a major action or fight scene. At least he plays one of the more sympathetic characters. Nonetheless, there is a lot more brutal violence in Election 2. A certain character crosses the line, and his actions shock his allies. This is the most disturbing scene in the movie, for sure.

In conclusion, Election 2 is the violent and gritty conclusion to Lam Lok's and Jimmy Lee's path to chairman. I highly recommend watching this movie. It is well made, well paced, with a very interesting story and characters, and some brutal violence as well. The acting is top notch. Simon Yam and Louis Koo kill it in their roles. This movie has a great soundtrack as well. Check it out, and be prepared for some shocking turns of events. This is another movie where you'll be thinking about it long after it's done.

Reviewed by David Williams

The Untold Story (1993) - A Review

One of the more infamous Category III films. You are not prepared for this one!

 The Untold Story is a crime thriller movie released in Hong Kong in 1993, and stars Anthony Wong, Danny Lee, Emily Kwan, Eric Kei, King Kong Lam, Parkman Wong, Julie Lee Wa-Yuet, and Shing Fui-On. This movie was directed by Herman Yau, and is one of the most infamous Category III  exploitation films ever made.

Anthony Wong plays a MONSTER in this movie.

 In The Untold Story, Anthony Wong plays Wong Chi-hang, an extremely disturbed and determined man who runs The Eight Immortals Restaurant in Macau. He wants to transfer ownership of the restaurant to himself, but his lawyers will not help him without the signature of the previous owner, Cheng Lam. One day, kids find severed limbs on the beach, and the police are called to investigate it. While the cops are goofing off at work, they receive a message from a man seeking help in finding his missing brother...Cheng Lam. They ignore it at first, but after the identity of one of the severed arms is discovered, they become interested in Wong Chi-hang and the restaurant.

 The cops question Wong Chi-hang and Pearl (played by Julie Lee Wa-Yuet), his cashier. Wong is cooperative, and gives the cops fresh pork buns. Pearl is cooperative as well, but a little too cooperative to Wong's liking. The cops voraciously eat the pork buns at the police station, and that night Wong makes Pearl pay for being truthful with the cops in horrific fashion...

The bumbling cops on the case. They provide the comedy in this dark and grim movie.

 The cops put Wong under surveillance, and they catch him getting rid of evidence. They arrest him, but Wong does everything he can to escape the cops and being charged with murder. Basically, the lead officer (played by Danny Lee) gets his team to torture Wong to get him to finally confess. What he confesses to is... absolutely appalling...

 The Untold Story is based on a true story. Knowing that makes this movie that much harder to watch. This movie is brutal. It is definitely a Category III film (Category III films in Hong Kong would be classified as Rated X or NC-17 in America). This is a warning: there is an absolutely brutal rape in this, and some brutal, ruthless killing. This is not a movie to watch when children are around...

 Despite that, there is comedy in this. The bumbling cops are always joking with each other, and they are especially rude to Bo (played by Emily Kwan), the only woman on their team. The jokes are sexual and sexist, so be prepared for that! Their lead officer, Lee is also constantly bringing his dates to work...which is pretty weird. Despite being a womanizer, he is a good detective. Which is a good thing, because Wong is quite the elusive suspect.

The violence is extreme, bordering on offensive.

 Anthony Wong. His performance in this. Incredible. He plays one of the creepiest, sickest, most disturbing bastards I've ever seen in movies. I actually hate him in this! What makes his performance great is that you kind of have a little sympathy for him when he's getting tortured by the police. That's just the sympathetic/empathetic side to me, I guess. Then I remember what he did to get tortured, and my sympathy goes out the window. Anthony Wong is a monster in The Untold Story, plain and simple. He actually won the Best Actor award for his performance in this movie, and I have to say, it is well deserved.

 Should you see The Untold Story? Even though it is a classic Hong Kong movie, I can't fully recommend it. If you like cult classics, exploitation films, horror movies, or just extreme cinema, then you'll love this one. For everyone else, give it a try if you are very curious, but don't say I didn't warn you. You need to see Anthony Wong's performance at the very least. He is amazingly disturbed in this. As for myself, I just had to watch this at least once, after reading about it in a book on Hong Kong cinema. Decades after reading about it, I finally watched it, and I was actually hesitant to see it. Curiosity overpowered me, and you know what they say about curiosity: it killed the cat.

(The cat being my innocent soul in this case.)

 

 

 

 

Reviewed by David Williams