gridoon2018 This is the second Ching Po Wong film I've watched recently, after "Mob Sister"; I'll try my best to avoid anything he might make in the future. The man clearly thinks that he is the best thing since sliced bread, when in fact he lacks even elementary skills of storytelling, or simply putting two scenes together. "Jiang Hu" plays more like a music video, where the most important thing is how "cool" the images look (about half the film seems to be in slow motion; add pretentious camera angles, and of course lots of rain) rather than narrative coherence or viewer involvement. The climactic set piece, the attack on Andy Lau's character, is a disaster: it's impossible to tell what's going on. The cast is good (including a small but touching performance by Yuan Lin), but wasted, because the director won't allow anyone to take the spotlight away from him. I'd give this film 0.5 out of 4 stars.

jenlim Somewhere on the Internet someone said Jiang Hu had the curse of coming after the Infernal Affairs series. Actually, that was not its only curse, and appeared to be the least of its worries. Forget the bar against which good triad movies are compared; just take the ordinary standards of a passably all-right movie that's worth your money and you will find yourself feeling short-changed.Nothing much happened in the movie, and what did happen in the movie, well, sucked. Sure, there was a really clever twist in the way the story was told, but that was a high point in an almost two-hour long low point, unless you are looking to find out more about triad philosophy, love weird disco scenes with weird looking people strutting weirdly at weird angles, or find sense in hearing Western music in a triad movie set for the most part in an Italian restaurant. Jiang Hu came off totally pretentious: one could actually feel that whoever was making the movie was trying desperately to come off as a sophisticate, intellectual and visionary, which is too much baggage for a tired plot. The distracting music and dance sequences, the 'play' on lights, the script from hell, the sudden silences, and the spastic Edison Chen added to a pretty long list of what could have been re-shot, reworked, rewritten and redone.Even to one who is no cineaste, hopping from one Chapman To movie to the next and going from this cheesy film to the next farce, it's a hard movie to watch and even more difficult to enjoy. Lower your lowered expectations.

blackheart981 There was much hype about the latest crime underworld movie called Jiang Hu. Sad to say it didn't do so well in the Hong Kong Box office and it was repeatedly slammed by Critics. Ironic though is that I find most non-official Critics such as fellow IMDb users, Internet users, and myself giving this film anywhere from thumbs in the middle to thumbs up. I'm probably not going to go much into the film since most reviewers have already elaborated on it. I am going to say though that it was sort of a waste to pit most of the "Infernal affairs" cast into this movie and yet you walk out not necessary caring for one of the characters. Andy Lau and Jacky Cheung are the highlights of the film though. Their dinner conversations on playing "Triad-chess" ignites the fuse on this film. Edison Chen and Shawn Yue surprisingly have improved on their acting on a margin of 80%. The last thing(s) that captivated me on this movie was the Musical Score, the wonderful lady- sung ballad in the opening and closing credits, and Chapman To's rendered Jiang Hu theme. For those who are looking for an abundance of Triad fight(s), look elsewhere. Sure this movie still has some violence, greed, lust, and full-on betrayals, but it is rather jelly-filled dialogue instead. Jiang Hu isn't a terrible movie but it isn't a best I've seen either. I give it a 7/10.

Harry T. Yung Spoilers !!!Written by a university undergraduate, the script for Jainghu came to the attention of the filmmakers through a competition. Producer Eric Tsang said in a radio interview that it was love at first sight with this clever story. The 24-year-old director chosen to make this movie has no commercial movie experience, but has made his mark by several controversial indy work, including Fu Bo which was highly acclaimed in the 2003 Hong Kong International Film Festival. With this combination, you would expect something new, even if the majority of the casts have been teleported from Wu Jian Dao.The script could very well be a one-act play using a divided stage or some similar technique. Strip away the whistles and bells, it really hinges on one single clever twist, which, even with the spoiler warning, I'm not going to explicitly disclose. Suffices to say that in a small way, it tries to create the 'Sixth Sense' kind of shocking impact and, in a small way, achieves some results. The author being a young lady, the script does not build on the macho man bonding that is the foundation of so many John Woo films, but rather dwells on subtleties and titillating dialogue. Eric Tsang intimated that while 'jianghu' (literal translation 'rivers and lakes') usually refers to the gang-land world, and this movie is about the gang-land world, it is meant here to encompass intricate human relationships in a broader scope. For example, the back-stabbing applies, even if not literally, just as well to the business arena. The director, obviously conscious of the fact that this is his first commercial endeavor, takes particular care with every single frame to give the audience something different, but not stray too far away from the mainstream. This does work sometimes, particularly in the crisp, efficient technique of omitting the key frame where the action actually takes place e.g. when Andy Lau hands a piece of fruit on the tip of a knife to his wife, or when the gangsters kill two small children. However, after watching the entire movie, one tends to feel on the whole that he is a little overboard with this style thing.People talk about the influence of Godfather in Jianghu. Fact is, the baptism-and-murder montage has become so classical that to see it in one form of another in a movie is really no big deal (even Kitano Takeshi's 'Zatoichi' has it). Talking about similarities and influences, how about Big Fish, in the parallel development of stories in two time slots? Another example is the scene where physical aggression arouses sexual desire, referencing to a similar situation in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and, if a more literary example is needed, Robertson Davies' Deptford Trilogy, in the third book, World of Wonders. Turning to the cast, cool Andy Lau is what you would always expect. Although there's no delight unlooked for, you won't be disappointed. The explosive Jackie Cheung, on the other hand, will make you sit up and pay attention, particularly if you remember him last in the mild-disposition school teacher in July Rhapsody. It's the spark between these two that is really enjoyable, especially in the long, stage-play like scene in the plush restaurant, a duel of words. It's also good to see the young pair continuing to improve since Wu Jian Dao. Shawn Yue finally got some fire in his belly, especially in the scene where he witnesses the killing of his brother. Edison Chan, on the other hand, tackles a more subtle character, playing second fiddle, but with the maturity of showing the seriousness behind the clowning. Must also mention Wu Chien-lien who, after a period of absence, appears in such radiant loveliness, even better than in her Tian RuoYou Qing days.Although a little flashy, Jianghu is a good collaboration between two newcomers, giving the audience a freshness in an escape from banality.