Hong Kong film review: Cold War II (寒戰 2) 2016

I told you after the last one that this was on the cards. And after a long, crappy week and some really cold, shitty weather, what better way to spend a Friday night snowed-in but with a beer and a good film?

As with all things newified, click the pictures here to embiggen.

For those of you just joining us, this is indeed the sequel to Cold War, the police thriller named after the operation code name of the first film. And like all good sequels, it builds on the success of, and plot threads of, the first one. You may need a quick refresher before you start the film, as just like its predecessor, it gets down to business pretty damn quick. I hope you’re not expecting time to make a cup of tea or check your phone during the running time, because you’re not going to have it without use of the pause button.

Where do we start? Sean Lau (Aaron Kwok 郭富城) is now permanent Commissioner of the HK Police Force. Yay! But it’s been literally one or two weeks since the end of the first film, and he’s still surrounded by his faithful justice-bringers (and welcome pot of cold water on tense situations, Phoenix - played brilliantly by Charlie Yeung 楊采妮). However, there are still elements who are not prepared to let him stay in the job for long. As the movie goes on, we’re slowly introduced to a wider conspiracy than we first imagined. It’s not long before you realise that M.B. Lee (Tony Leung Ga-Fai 梁家輝) is only the tip of an ugly iceberg. But whose side is he on? And for how long?

There’s that old adage about the road to Hell being paved with good intentions. When you’re not sure who’s using whom, or who’s lying to whom, it must be so much harder to work out the good intentions from the good actions for bad reasons. And somewhere in all that we have Lee, who thought he was ok with being put on ‘pre-retirement leave’, A.K.A. ‘garden leave’, before he’s basically sacked from the position of Commissioner. It must grate that Sean Lau is now in charge full-time, and of both arms of the police force (Operations and Management). But hey, he seems ok with it - until a group of people appear, intent on getting his son out of prison by hook or by a bunch of crooks. Now he’s dragged in and he doesn’t seem upset about it at all.

In the meantime we meet some characters who were mentioned in the first movie but weren’t needed at that time - the drunk bloke who crashes his car and first introduces us to Lee’s son, and the infamous EU police van right at the start of the first movie? Yeah, he turns up in this just as his rich, famous uncle has him bailed out - and then promptly packs him off to the USA for good. Oh, his uncle? None other than Chow Yun Fat, someone I’ve missed for a while in new movies (that aren’t about pirates that he gets cut out of by mainland censors). Sharp, astute and in no mood for people pissing over rules and regulations, he has a small team of crack lawyers and experts he trusts to get to the truth of pretty much everything. When he gets the idea that someone is out to use him to somehow remove Sean Lau from office, he gets a bit of a cob on and that’s that - he’s out to get whoever it is for trying to use the legislature to their own advantage. What an upstanding young(ish) man.

Still smarting from losing people in the last film, Sean Lau is in full-blown TRUST NO-ONE mode (Mulder would be proud) and sets about sorting out his own secret little team of people to start tracing and collecting evidence. He has more than one team, and more than one objective - and neither one knows of the others. His organisational (and compartmentalising) skills are to be feared; I’d hate to think what’s he like with a Netvigator (Sky) remote and a monthly planner. In the first movie, he used the ICAC to achieve his aims. In this one - who exactly is he using and how? Now that would be telling, but you know it’s going to be juicy and it’s going to be the ultimate smack-down if he can pull it off.

The thing is, with Lee you never really know what he’s thinking - to begin with I felt he was on Lau’s side regarding the imprisonment of his naughty son, but then I’m think he’s just biding his time, perhaps even getting his son where he wants him (for reasons that may only become apparent the last time they speak). I love that, when I see a certain scene, it can look like both scenarios are true - from each point of view. It really is left up the audience to decide what they’re seeing.

The courtroom scenes can seem overly A Few Good Men-ish, but give them a break; they’re trying to prove how HK courts are still actually independent judges of guilt, complete with juries and trial by peers and everything (compared to the mainland. Which we won’t mention - until Sean Lau does by giving them a hyowj verbal ‘up yours’ right near the end of the film. It’s GLORIOUS.). What I do find interesting is the second court hearing, where Sean Lau ’s suspects he’s being fucked over just the same way as Lee was in the first film. Or is he? Is that anger, Lau, or cold revenge? Did Lee learn very quickly from Lau’s removal of him in the first movie, and he is now turning the tables? Or is he instead going for the slow burn? Chow Yun Fat is not having any shenanigans in his courtroom though - how very dare they think they can use the law for their own gains.

After the court performance, Chow’s view of Lau changes a little, I think; now he’s not sure which side Lau is on. There’s a lovely scene where both of them, surrounded by their own teams, battle toward the same conclusion - but only one of them knows what it means. The other will have to ice-skate uphill to get his answer. I love how you see thought processes and reasons for their ideas of what Lee is up to, where he’s getting his motivation from, and how they think they’re going to divine the masterplan.

So far I’ve gone on about courtroom drama, people hedging their bets, not giving anything away, playing things close to the chest and basically being a thriller more than an action film. The next bit will change all that: the Tunnel Scene. Every time I see this film I settle in for the Tunnel Scene. Basically we have a shoot-out - but it’s so well done and so well put together that I have to go back and watch it again before I go on with the rest of the movie.

Hong Kong films still do action better than most Hollywood ones in my opinion; the CGI may have got better and the wire-work or stunt-work improved, but for me it’s always the style, or the way they put it on film, that makes it stand out. Hollywood movies are great at producing slick, perfect-looking action set pieces, sure. But Hong Kong makes it look more realistic. Not everyone is wearing a Rolex or suitable shoes - not everyone is driving a newish car or one that doesn’t need a fair bit of work to get it through an MOT - not everyone is a fake stunt artist in disguise.

I won’t go into details about what happens because I don’t want to spoil it, but bloody hell make sure you watch closely.

Remember Phoenix from the first movie? She wasn’t there to take anyone’s shit and she certainly wasn’t intimidated by Lee shouting in her face. They mention that she once dated Lau, and Lee even casts aspersions about that, especially as Lau is now married to someone else and has a young daughter. However it’s obvious (at least to me) that they’re now good friends because they trust each other’s commitment to what’s morally right - and that’s rare. When the tables are turning and Lau is basically put on two weeks’ notice that he’s being removed, he actually asks her to co-sign the petition to oust him. She’s not interested, but he wins her over with calm logic. And here’s the thing; now I’ve seen how he’s played his hand before, I too wanted her to sign the petition. I mean it protected her, kept her where she could do the most good, and he had things in motion that couldn’t be jeopardised by something as trivial as someone after his job. And that’s what I like about him; he has perspective.

I also like it when other characters realise they’re being thrown under a bus but there’s nothing they can do about it - some excellent power play goes on as plans go south but people can’t know they were your plans in the first place. The film ends on a high note with consequences; people will be back, others will be itching for revenge, and next time, it may not be about the safety of a single city. I mean the easiest way to prove you’re the right man for the job is to escalate something so that you rescue not only your city but a neighbouring one too, right? Now suddenly you’re an international hero making Hong Kong look good.

Hmm. I guess we’ll have to wait and see - a sequel is slated for 2019 but whether it pans out that way is another matter. And, of course, we have to hope it’s as good as the first two.

I have to say I was more impressed by the first film, but this was no slouch in keeping up, what with its sometimes breath-taking manoeuvring of the characters and the background happenings that were there all along but you didn’t see. Lau proved himself once again to be a right slippery bastard - aren’t you glad he’s on the side of justice? What everyone else does next is going to be very interesting to see, that’s for damned sure.

Verdict: 9.5/10; solid plot, good use of characters, nice twists and turns, and I was kept guessing the whole time. The more times I see it, the more times I think I missed something the first few times.

And that’s pretty much it for today. Not sure what I’ll be watching next - this snow will have to clear off the roads first (so I can at least see where they end and the pavements begin) and then I can maybe get out of the house to get to the pictures.

Peach and lube, everyone - peach and lube.