BlazeLime Strong and Moving!

Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Madilyn Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

rdoyle29 Triad chairman Simon Yam's term is coming to an end and he doesn't want to vacate the job. His main contender is Louis Koo, who is only seeking the job to further his business interests in mainland China. This one is a slow burn. Most of the running time is gangsters manoeuvring politically until the film erupts in a series of horrendously violent sequences. A grim gem among To's incredibly consistent output.

Seamus2829 As I never saw the first chapter of 'Hak se wui yi wo wai kwai', I had no idea what to expect from this tale of Chinese crime gangs in Hong Kong. As I have, however seen a number of Hong Kong action/adventure epic (and ones even without Jackie Chan), it came as no surprise to me, what so ever. This film seems to channel a good block of Francis Ford Coppola's 'The Godfather (1972)' & several other films from that era (with a splash of 1940's film noir tossed in for good measure). The film is a bit slow in getting started, but when it does...WATCH OUT! The story is about a "family" (gang)looking for a new Chairman to take over from the old one who wants to step down & take life a bit easier. The most obvious choice is Jimmy, a (so called)businessman who only wants to run a business selling pirated DVD's in mainland China. Without revealing anything,things get nasty between other gang members, who seem to want another Chairman,instead of Jimmy. Although the film is distributed by a fairly well known U.S. distributor of Asian cinema (Tartan Films,inc.), I'm guessing that it probably won't play much outside of cinemas that cater to a (mostly)Asian audience (as will the eventual DVD release,which will be mostly made available in all of those little Mom & Pop Asian grocery stores that rent out Cantonese or Mandarin language videos---and without the English subtitles). This film is worth seeking out for crime drama fanatics (advance warning:there is some really nasty violence that occurs in this film, involving dog food, so be prepared)

johno-21 I recently saw this at the 2007 Palm Springs International Film Festival and I had never seen the first film of this series but this still stands on it's own without the benefit of seeing the first film Election. This being distributed as Triad Election although in the opening credits is called Election 2. This is the story of a large Hong Kong crime syndicate that has it's hand in several business dealings from bootleg compact discs to government contracts in Hong Kong and on mainland China. Ten of the actors reprise their roles here from the first film. Lok is the head of the crime family of which was elected to serve a two year term and now his term is up. He wants to hang on to his power and not go into semi-retirement as an elder or uncle within the Triad. Jimmy is the odd-on favorite to win the election this time around but he is a reluctant candidate. He only wants to be a underworld businessman which he never will be unless he accepts the position as the elected one term leader of the crime family. Veterna director Johnny To is back as the director as well as the screenplay team of Nal Hei Yau and Tin-Shing yip, cinematographer Siu-keung Chang and production director Tony Yu. This is a violent film and many comparisons have been made with the Godfather and other American gangster films. Not knowing anything about this or it's predecessor film I didn't really know what to expect here but this is a well-polished film with a good story and plenty of interesting characters. I would give this an 8.0 out of 10.

Chris Knipp It may seem odd for the selective New York Film Festival to include what in many ways is a fairly standard Hong Kong crime movie, working in the familiar genre of Triad gang stories. What is new here, perhaps, if it is really new, is that not only does the main character make his choices in order to create new relationships with the Chinese mainland, but he also dreams of becoming a pure businessman, and wants his son not to be a successful gang leader like him but an attorney. If we didn't see the original film of which this is the follow-up, we soon learn that the Wo Shing Society undergoes leadership changes every two years by a vote of its key members, and current leader Lok (Simon Yam) is about to finish his term. As the time comes though, Lok wants to hold onto his power, which leads to a personality change. He turns very nasty. But Jimmy turns even nastier.Lok has to select a potential candidate amongst his 5 godsons, and Jimmy (Louis Koo) already rich from pirated porn sales, seems the best qualified to bring in new business for the Society. However, his interest is only in making money, initially that is, until he's seduced by the fact that with power, the mainland Chinese will give him more respect, and with that, the potential for more business. In fact a key mainland player tells him he cannot come back to deal with them unless he is president of the society. It is only in the hopes of becoming more a businessman that Jimmy accepts the idea of a two-year term as Wo Shing leader. But he must fight for that, because of Lok's change of heart.The irony is that after Jimmy succeeds, he finds he has fallen into a trap.To what extent this has anything to do with actual events, or is a reference to the new relationships since 1997's changeover to mainland control of Hong Kong, is uncertain. But the kernel idea of the film according to To was a police commissioner's remark to him that the criminal class would be important to the stability of the new Hong Kong. To feels that the Triad system is dying, perhaps also as some Italians feel the Mafia's glory days are over. But as an old Arab proverb says, "Evil is ancient." And in keeping with this notion is director To's notion of the role played by destiny in life, which relates to Jimmy. Jimmy's destiny comes from his birth. His father was a criminal, and he is a criminal. His plan of eventually becoming merely a successful businessman is therefore doomed, because it is not his destiny, nor will it, most likely, be his son's.This film was entitled Triad Election as presented, but the international title Election II is more accurate, given that this is a sequel, with the same main characters, to Election. Apparently this newer film was issued in a "sanitized version" which dwelt more on the political machinations than on the usual violence. In the version shown at the NYFF the violence was restored, and it is some of the most horrific imaginable, including as it does men chained to mad dogs (was Abu Ghraib an inspiration?) and a man who is beaten to a pulp with mallets and then dismembered with knives, his severed limbs run through a meat grinder and fed to the dogs. There is a scene in the new Scorsese The Departed where Jack Nicholson smashes Leonardo DiCapro's already broken hand, and another when he appears with his shirt disheveled and covered with splattered blood. But that's nothing compared to these Hong Kong Triad tortures, which are shown in vivid detail. Unlike the showy acting in The Departed the characters in Triad Election tend to speak in quick monosyllables. Then of course, Chinese is a monosyllabic language. But there are no caressing poetic effusions, no love scenes, only politics, a few hugs, and the nihilistic isolation of ultra-cruelty. Even the gang lords' wealth is shown only by their riding in big dark expensive cars.The film begins boringly, as such films often do, with a meeting outdoors between syndicate members and officials. It is only as time goes on that the violence begins and we get the juice and momentum of a real crime movie. That also includes throwing an old man down many flights of stairs to kill him. All this is elegantly filmed; the often chiaroscuro wide-screen cinematography is impeccable, and Louis Ko as Jimmy is as handsome as the young Alain Delon. The acting is of uniformly high quality, as are the other aspects. But despite that the experience the film provides is rather routine. Godfather-esquire moments notwithstanding, there is here none of the powerful characterization, the moral content, and the fierce forward momentum of John Woo. What we have here is an homage to the peak performance of a genre artist – except that by reports Election, the first film, is superior. It's not likely that this film will make many new converts to the genre or the director.