Drug War (2012)

☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Drug War (2012) – J. To

Johnnie To achieved international stardom as a director (after a long varied career) with Election (2005) and Election 2 (2006), Hong Kong gangster films that followed in the wake of the success of Infernal Affairs and its sequel earlier in the decade (not to mention John Woo’s 1980s films).  Drug War follows in the same vein, giving equal attention to the cops and the criminals:  Honglei Sun as the wily police captain who excels at undercover stings vs. Louis Koo as the drug manufacturer forced to work for the cops to take down the kingpin.  The plot is tight with little fat, a great deal of suspense is built up by the various twists and turns, and it all culminates in a massive shoot-out outside a primary school. Of course, there is very little depth here but there are character quirks and eccentric choices enough to make this more than a routine actioner.