Reviewed by: dandan Date: 01/22/2011 Summary: i can be a patriot... it is almost two years since the end of the first film: lok's (simon yam) time as chairman has been peaceful and prosperous for the wo shing society, although talk of who should be a candidate in the next election is starting to cause a little tension. kun (gordon lam) wants the position, lok suggests jet (nich cheung) and jimmy (louis koo) is also mooted. kun seems like a bit of a hothead, jet seems merely to be a puppet of lok, unknown to most society members, whilst jimmy, whose power and reputation has grown thanks to his shrewd business sense and huge financial clout, seems like an extremely popular choice. jimmy doesn't want the position. jimmy wants to be a legitimate businessman, he wants to make a lot of money and have a family. kun and jet don't seem like viable alternatives and, with his tenure drawing to an end, lok decides that maybe he doesn't want to give up power after all, despite the fact that this goes against the traditions of the family. however, when jimmy discovers that his business being effected by his lack of power, the idea of being chairman seems like one he can't refuse: it looks like there's going to be trouble on the horizon... a more straight-forward triad movie than the first film in this series, and slightly weaker as a result, but still a very good film. again, the fact that honour and righteousness go out of the window when it comes to getting one's hands on money and power is explored. and here, we have a battle between someone who is reluctant to give up the seat of power and someone who is just as reluctant to take it up, with the focus of the film most definitely switching to louis koo's jimmy and his campaign. i think what i find most interesting about the film is the perception of the good guys and the bad guys, and how this is played with. in the first film, there was definitely a sense that the audience was to adopt the calm, almost boring figure of lok, as he struggled to overcome the underhanded, brashness of tony leung's, cartoon-like, big d. here, lok appears corrupt and manipulative, hungry to hold on to power and has lost his appeal. jimmy, being the younger, more handsome man, a man who wants simply to do business and is using his relationship with the society to do this, rather than being a fully fledged gangster, seems to be who johnnie to is pushing both into the limelight and into the role that should be gaining the audience's support in this conflict. however, as the film progresses, it becomes very difficult to find anyone with any real sense of a moral code, whose life is not simply ruled by the desire to grasp hold of as much money and power as they can. in a way, the film is a tragic meditation on what a reluctant gangster puts himself through in order to strike a business deal... as you'd expect from everyone involved, this is a very watchable film (despite the unwatchable nature of some of its scenes), with a very high quality of production, extremely well performed and slickly executed by the milkyway team, be they in front of or behind the cameras. very good.

Reviewed by: Beat TG Date: 03/10/2009 Summary: Great sequel to one of 2005's best movies This is really a great continuation of what the first movie left off and takes place two years after the last election and events surrounding Lok and his friends and foes, but this time Louis Koo takes up the lead role rather than Simon Yam who was the main focus in the first movie (for whatever reason). Johnnie To's treatment of handling the build-up was just perfect and I thought it was a sweet idea by Johnnie To of showing how far some people are willing to go to remain their status and respect in contrast to their important things put aside, even though they are still unwilling to carry out acts they didn't intend to do in the first place. This fortunately explores more of these aspects as well as others such as changes, trust, love, betrayal, and the overall cruel/backstabbing side of being a gangster for the characters who goes through these things once they communicate with everyone in the society. On top of that, the movie portrayal is supported by wonderful cast and crew, such as the ever reliable Simon Yam, Louis Koo who is surprisingly good here, Gordon Lam, and the always quirky MW regulars (Lam Suet, Wong Tin Lam, Eddie Cheung) whom progresses everything to great effect. Reviewer Score: 8

Reviewed by: ewaffle Date: 12/01/2007 Summary: Too stylish by half The very stylish set design, cinematography and direction of “Triad Election” overshadows its rudimentary plot and lack of character development. It looks great—often too great, such as when the camera looks down a highly polished wooden spiral staircase. When Lok kicks Uncle Teng down the stairs to his death it has less impact than the previous “look at me” shot of the circular staircase. Louis Koo is able to kill people, grind them into dog food and survive several assassination attempts without once losing the knife-like part in his hair. Simon Yam sleepwalks through a role that didn’t demand anything more lively and the almost complete immobility of the Uncles (particularly Wong Tin-Lam, for whom it has become second nature and, possibly, necessary) was fitting given their lack of action. The main theme of “Triad Election” is a Buddhist/existentialist hell. Jimmy makes a glancing and vulgar reference to this when he tells Lik to get smarter in his next life. But Jimmy is the one caught in a dreadful karmic destiny of hatred, deceit, fear and suspicion. He despises his life as a gangster (although he does show a real aptitude for it) and wants to go straight—to become a respected ancestor. His children will be doctors and lawyers and he will be free of the taint of crime. His life so far makes this impossible which he is told by an implacable PRC official. Jimmy is going to be the permanent head to the Wo Sing in Hong Kong. The title of chairman will remain in his family so his children will have the same curse and suffer in the same way. Jimmy, his allies and his rivals are condemned to never achieve enlightenment but to be stuck in a samsara of continuous rebirth, death and decay. They will suffer forever and their hell will begin here on earth. Which is fine—Jimmy is a loathsome creature capable of astonishing acts of barbarity. Lok is happy to pile up bodies throughout the SAR in order to stay as chairman, a step he vowed not to take when elected and which violates the tradition of Wo Sing. A secondary theme is the continued despoliation of the Chinese countryside by the booming industrial and especially the export oriented economy. Jimmy wants to operate within the PRC so he can build a superhighway through a rural area and cut the time of a trip to Hong Kong (and its port) by 20%. It is only at the very end of the movie, when the PRC official goes to the highest point in the area, a place where Jimmy is going to build his home, that we see the beauty of the symmetrical rice paddies, perfectly shaped and lushly green, stretching to the horizon. This pastoral idyll will be bulldozed so that Jimmy’s road can go through. Watching any 20 minutes of “Triad Election” will give the viewer a complete sense of the movie. It is always hyper-stylish with moody colors, significant shadows and flashy camera work and it is also devoid of any real human content. It isn’t only that there aren’t any characters to root for, there aren’t really any to not root against. Recommended only for its look Reviewer Score: 5

Reviewed by: j.crawford Date: 08/12/2007 Summary: compelling.... In the world of the triads, the winner takes all. After his successful bid to become the top gangster in Election [2005], Lok [Simon Yam Tat-Wah] is very motivated to hold on to his esteemed position. This time the competition is deadlier than before. The triads survive because they are willing too adapt to anything as long as there is a profit for everyone. Now that he's up for re-election, Lok lets his wealth and power cloud his vision of the future. Election 2 [2006] is le dernier chef d'oeuvre du cinéma du directeur renommé de film de Hong Kong, M. Johnnie To. This film brings its predecessor into focus while drawing on the first film to establish character and motivation without wasting time on needless historical exposition, something which slowed the first film down. Not the case here, as Mr. To and Executive Director Law Wing-Cheong keep the visual palette alive and compelling as the deadly activities are carried out. Law Wing-Cheong also edited this movie. Reviewer Score: 8

Reviewed by: MrBooth Date: 11/14/2006 ELECTION felt like a film that could have been great, but (as with quite a few of Johnnie To's recent films), didn't quite go anywhere - or at least not anywhere I expected it to go... the end result being a sort of "eh?" as the credits rolled. ELECTION 2 follows a rather similar arc, as another election within the Wo Sing triads looms two years after the last, and the candidates for the leadership don't want to leave their victory to unreliable things like votes. The contenders machinate and intimidate in an attempt to stack the decks in their favour, but where you might expect this to build to a clever denouement where the pieces all converge to create a clever climax, there's a sense that many or most of the events in the film have little effect on the eventual outcome... leaving a similar somewhat unsatisfied "eh?" feeling at the end. But, still more interesting than most HK films of 2006 - though I base this on the fact I haven't felt inclined to view many (if any?) others rather than direct experience :-/ Definitely not as rewarding as slightly-earlier To films such as THE MISSION... maybe he should patch up whatever differences have led to him no longer collaborating with Wai Ka-Fai? Reviewer Score: 6

Reviewed by: Chinoco Date: 07/29/2006 Summary: Major Letdown I was really looking forward to this film. As mentioned in my Election review, I didn't like that movie as much as I had hoped. I was so excited about hearing that Election 2 was going to be released, that I pre-ordered the 2 DVD special edition. When it arrived, it came with great packaging complete with 7 exclusive postcards, a collector’s booklet, and special features which were also subtitled in English. Believe me- I really wanted to enjoy this one. However, I didn't. Hopefully this review can explain why. Two years have past since the first movie. It's time again for the Wo Sing Election. Only this time, going against tradition, Lok (Simon Yam) wants to keep his post and run again. Some of the Triads feel that this is a good idea, others are against it. One of the problems facing the Wo Sing, is the lack of qualified candidates. Besides Lok, Jimmy (Louis Koo) appears to be the only solid choice. He initially declines the offer to run, focusing more on his private bootleg business. His feelings soon change however, when his main business deals are taken away by the mainland Chinese government. They offer him a proposal: He gets to deal in the Mainland- but only if he wins the Wo Sing Election. Since Lok is not going to give up his seat, the battle lines are drawn, and trust me: these two are not going to wait for someone to count ballots. The plot sounds ok, huh? Well here come the problems. For one NOBODY acts the same as they did in the first movie. Maybe two years have gone by, but the narrative needs to explain to us the reasons why these characters change. Lok seems to lose all of his calm, calculating cool from the first film. Jimmy goes from somewhat honorable to whiny, greedy, ruthless and downright savage. Big Head goes from a loyal Triad to just a joke; and Jet goes from a major tough guy to an insecure punk running around aimlessly. The "battle" between Lok and Jimmy plays out like a chess match. Sure, there are strategies, clever moves, gambles, and mistakes; however just like watching two OTHER people playing chess- the result is very boring. Another problem with this movie is that there is no real character to root for. They are all bad guys. In the first Election, you have ironically both Lok and Jimmy who were portrayed as good. We found out at the end of the first movie that Lok wasn't so great, and we out find the same thing about Jimmy here. Simon Yam's character I felt was under-used. The subplot with his son does continue in this film, but I was not satisfied with how it ended. In the beginning of the film, it is noted that several of the brothers are now rich and prosperous due to Lok. I find it curious that he was unable to gather more support when he was challenged. The end of the movie does have a twist, as I predicted from watching it. However, compared to the first movie it is very lacking. I for one was hoping for the last minute return of a seemingly defeated character, but it did not happen. The ending deals strongly with local HK vs. Mainland China government and politics. HK residents and Civics majors may find this really exciting, but it certainly doesn't translate too well for western audiences. With who we had been presented with in this movie, I for one was rooting for the Chinese Government by the end. Election 2 does feature the same excellent guitar based theme from the first movie. This is a good touch. There is also more action and violence in the second film. There is enough action and good acting to keep this movie slightly above average, but the story is a major disappointment. All in all, I give both movies the same rating, with a slight edge going to Election 1. Reviewer Score: 6

Reviewed by: Sydneyguy Date: 07/28/2006 Summary: Am i the first reviewer? I didn't like the first movie but i decided to watch the sequel, which in itself, appears to end with a "to be continued" feel to it. Will this franchise ever end?? The first movie, there was talk it was quite heavily edited, this movie, was too short. It felt like it just "jumped" to the next event.It just made it out that doing this was no problem at all. It was slow paced, probably to create atmosphere but this just bored me. It's a Cat 3 movie and you can see why!! This time, Louis Koo takes up most of the screen time. Everyone else was background noise. The one positive was MArk Cheung, he plays the bad guy enforcer role well. He is under rated as a actor. Apart from this there is nothing else to recommend, the fast forward button was used in over drive, it was boring!! Reviewer Score: 3