“The Departed” was a great crime thriller from Martin Scorsese but a lot of people do not know that it was actually a remake of a 2002 Hong Kong movie titled “Infernal Affairs”. The films are very similar but also very different and while I dislike seeming ignorant, I much prefer the American version.

In this movie, we follow undercover cop Chen Wing Yan (Tony Leung “Hero”), who has successfully infiltrated a Triad gang and must spend his days pretending to be someone he is not. We also follow Lau Kin Ming (Andy Lau “House Of Flying Daggers”), a Hong Kong police officer that is secretly working for the Triads. The two men try to expose each other as the situation becomes increasingly dangerous.

I felt a lot more invested in the characters in “The Departed” than the ones in “Infernal Affairs” and I think a lot of that has to do with the length of the movie. “The Departed” is almost an hour longer than “Infernal Affairs” so we have more time to learn about the characters and understand what makes them tick. The characters in “Infernal Affairs” are not bad by any means but the performances here seem suppressed in comparison to the raw emotion featured in “The Departed”.

“Infernal Affairs” is clearly a slick Hong Kong crime thriller but it just never quite grabbed my attention. The film is very skilfully made but everything seems a little too perfect and it is almost bland at times. One thing the original does better than its American remake is the ending. If you loved “The Departed”, I would recommend checking this film out just to compare the two styles and see which one you like more. However, on its own, I do not feel that I can give it a recommendation.