Reviewed by: pjshimmer Date: 10/22/2005 Summary: A Gem overshadowed by Infernal Affairs The general consensus among HK cinema followers is that Jiang Hu suffers from this and that, so I expected it to be mediocre. Truth is, it turned out to be the most delightful surprise in many years. Right from the start, the bar scenes are filled with energy and dazzling lighting effects, achieving maximum cinematic excitement. The film's retrospective score and set design evoke the old Chinese city which was previous achieved to perfection only by Wong Kar Wai's IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE. Jiang Hu's director seems to have learned more than a few tricks from Kar Wai, from utilizing well-placed retrospective songs to capturing the moment for maximum mood. This is to say, Jiang Hu is an outstanding work of art that captures the essence of triad lifecycle and blood brotherhood. Watching Jiang Hu is like experiencing the 21th century Chinese update of The Godfather or any number of European and Italian American gangster classics in the 60s/70s. In our jiang hu, Loyalty is at stake. Andy Lau and Jacky Cheung, two of HK's finest, reprise their boss-follower roles from AS TEARS GO BY, complete with Jacky's impulsiveness and Andy's more calm personality. Their pure friendship from years ago is turning pale as Jacky's ambition pull him towards the dark side. While Jacky favors violence as primary resort, Andy Lau's character is more of a pacifist. I find his peaceful resolution approach representative of Buddhist idealogy in some manner. When warned that Jacky may turn against him, Andy responds: "I am not worried. If my death is what it takes to make Jacky realize the meaning of blood brothers, then so be it." Andy has reached the top of the game, where money and fame have lost their meaning. He only wishes to change his old friend for the better before time runs out. But Andy does not shove this idea down Jacky's throat; he shows Jacky the way through demonstrations of sophistication and wit, instead of blood and force. In the end, after leaving his words, Andy walks away from the table. Whether Jacky accepts his invitation to recover their brotherly bonding is up to Jacky. Some viewers have pointed out the lack of brutality/blood. This ties back to Andy's philosophy that success can be achieved without blood, as he expresses many times in the movie. It is a central theme to the story. Jiang Hu is the third masterpiece I saw in 2004, a fairly kind year for HK cinema. As I write this review in October 2005, no HK film I have seen this year comes close to exhibiting Jiang Hu's rare quality to preserve the integrity of the art. [9/10]

Reviewed by: Jackal Date: 11/24/2004 Summary: interesting only from behind Lau-Cheung Duet That film resemble me "Infernal Affair". Plot is too much muddle. I not understand who like to kill to Lau and for what? I not understand final episode. But Andy Lau and Jackie Cheung acts great!

Reviewed by: mrblue Date: 09/25/2004 Even though Hong Kong's movie output has fallen dramatically over the past few years, there is always one thing that the film-makers can go to with confidence: the Triad drama. Bolstered by the success of the Infernal Affairs trilogy, there has been a series of new crime pictures (Wong Jing's Colour of the Truth and Johnnie To's PTU among them) which have found favor with both critics and fans all over the world. Unfortunately, Jiang Hu isn't one of them. It seemingly has all of the ingredients of a classic gangster flick, but it never seems to pull everything together, and the resulting product is a bit bland. "Jiang Hu" is a Cantonese term that loosely translates to "underground/hidden world" and falls into the Chinese names of many Hong Kong crime or swordsplay movies. In this particular instance, it tells the story of two sets of friends. Andy Lau and Jacky Cheung play the heads of a Triad gang who are under attack from their lieutenants. Shawn Yue and Edison Chen are on the other end of the spectrum -- they're low-level punks who are assigned to their first real job, a hit on a big crime boss. During one fateful night, the friends put each others' relationships to the test as their stories intertwine. The story isn't too mind-blowing, but it is suitably different enough from the "some guy killed my buddy as a kid so I have to get revenge when I'm an adult" or the "undercover cop gets in too deep and sacrifices everything" motifs found in so many other Triad films. Jiang Hu's main problem is that it doesn't know how to deliver the story. Is it a serious drama ala Infernal Affairs? A artsy picture like Chungking Express? Pop fluff like Young and Dangerous? Jiang Hu tries to be all of these and never delivers. Much of the suprisingly short running time (about 85 minutes) is dominated by scenes where Andy and Jacky talk to each other over dinner. When it's not that, it's oddball stuff like Edison Chen having "relations" with a canine. I'm not the world's biggest Edison Chen fan by any means, but I almost felt embarrassed for the guy. Jiang Hu tries to capture the icy-cold cool of recent gangster film hits, but it just ends up being lukewarm instead. It's not a horrible movie, but there was a time when most any Hong Kong crime film was almost guaranteed mandatory viewing for fans of the genre -- 2004 doesn't seem to be one of them. This is an admirable attempt, but I hope director Wong Ching Po soon realizes that keen visual trickery can only take you so far. Movies like the aforementioned Young and Dangerous certainly used their share of camera flair, but audiences cared about the characters. More and more, Hong Kong film-makers seeming to be confusing style with substance, and Jiang Hu is just the latest example of that. (review from www.hkfilm.net)

Reviewed by: Sydneyguy Date: 09/18/2004 Summary: Style with little else........... To keep it brief, i did like the plot and the twist at the end but the younger characters are just too brash and hot headed to like. Though the conversation between Andy and Jackie is interesting, the former parts were just not interesting to me, though i vital part of the movie. It just feels like a rip off of another movie, like an alternate "infernal affairs" or something 6/10

Reviewed by: barrst Date: 08/28/2004 Summary: Just enough substance to go with all the style Triad movie about a Triad leader and his left hand man's evolving relationship. There are a lot of visual tricks (looking up through the ground, moving tables, etc. etc.) and some melodramatic dialog. It may help to think of the movie as a Triad fantasy, even less realistic than the Young and Dangerous films.

Reviewed by: magic-8 Date: 07/28/2004 Summary: Tired Triad Tale Wong Ching Po takes a bland To Chi-long script and tries to spice things up by using all the tired conventions of the triad genre, resulting in “Jiang Hu,” an overproduced movie that is plodding and dull. While Andy Lau and Jacky Cheung put in solid performances, they can’t overcome the banal writing, which injects twists and turns that create more confusion than entertainment. Many filmmakers, following in the influence of “Infernal Affairs,” will attempt to create a world of intricate layers and nuances. “Jiang Hu” is only able to attain superficial success on the visual level. Shawn Yue and Edison Chen, as triad wannabes, portray a rendition of Lau and Cheung as youths, but you’d never be able to make the connection. Yue and Chen’s range is fairly narrow in this film and not in keeping with the main pairing of Lau and Cheung. Shawn is stiff while Edison’s over-emoting is, for the most part, much too silly. It’s always a pleasure to see Wu Chien-Lien and Kara Hui, even in bit parts, but they are only momentary distractions. “Jiang Hu” is one of those projects of style over substance, where the producers hid the thin script with elaborate mise en scene, like the moving table, where Andy and Jacky are seated and having a heated debate (a scene that proved to be pretentious and sillier than Chen's performance). The supposed twist at the end was too little too late. "Jiang Hu" is an ambitious attempt to add to the triad annals, but an ultimate failure for being too mundane. Reviewer Score: 6

Reviewed by: MrBooth Date: 07/14/2004 Summary: Interesting, if somewhat compromised Jiang Hu seems to have met with surprisingly negative reviews for a new, very slick all-star gangster movie out of Hong Kong. Not too long ago, most fans were complaining that HK seemed to have stopped making this type of film altogether (and swearing that if they saw another romcom with Sammi Cheng they'd kill someone) - then we get one of the most interesting gangster films for years and everybody bitches. Go figure :p Anyway, I thought the film was enjoyable, with an above-average focus on character development and buckets of style - maybe too many buckets in fact... it suffers in places from trying to be too clever/cool for its own good (the moving table cam near the end was just ridiculous). There's some awful acting (Chapman To especially), but also a lot to like (Jacky and Andy's performances for instance) and I found it entertaining to watch. It should be noted that the film apparently ran into some trouble with the censors, and was substantially cut prior to release. There's a bunch of deleted scenes on the 2nd disc in the Mei Ah DVD, but unfortunately without subtitles. There was one particular scene, with Edison Chen and a dog, that isn't listed in the deleted scenes menu. However, if you choose "Play All" and skip to the end, you can see the scene. It's actually very short and I don't think it needed to be cut, and it does significantly hurt the plot development. In short, if you miss the stylish HK gangster films of yore, check out Jiang Hu. It may not be the best of them (or even one of them) and Wong Ching-Po's misguided efforts to be 'cool' or 'artistic' certainly hurt the film more than they help it, but it's worth a look. Reviewer Score: 6

Reviewed by: X-zen Date: 06/13/2004 Summary: A triad drama with a twist This film is about the triad in HK. Not so much the violent side but the evolving event that make or break a person (some may diagree). What draws me to this movie in the first place is Andy Lau but be warn he is not much of a lead here in the sense that he is not in a lot of scenes. Most of the time is taken up by Edison and Shawn character. Not that that's a bad thing. Overall, the acting of the whole cast is not bad. Miu Kiu wai is very much welcome and so is Wu who plays Andy's wife. Jacky Cheung is fun to watch as always. But IMHO, Edison really stands out, not with his acting (he has improved but there is still a lot of room) but his daringness to try new things (I'm refering to his bestiality scene) I mean come on, how many up and coming HK idols is willing to throw away his/her idol image like that. None, zero, that's how many. In that aspect, he earn a respect but maybe his way of thinking is different. A lot of ppl can't accept that scene, even the crews themselves but I feel it is an important scene that transform Edison from a timid gangter wannabe to a ruthless crimelord. They are a few funny and interesting scenes like the gun grabing scene with Lam Suet and the lines between Andy and Jacky are witty. The ending has some little plot twist. Should have seen it coming long time ago but the pacing is fast enough for me to overlook the clues until the final minutes. Fairly inteligent but doesn't seem to attract enough ppl judging from its box office. I read comments like it's fairly similar to previous HK triad flicks (Ashes Of Time etc etc)and how it lacks breakthroughs but my advice is to give this movie a try. I've seen my share of HK triad film and all I can say is Jiang Hu is not bad. Not bad at all. X-Zen (2004) Reviewer Score: 8