The Departed Infernal Affairs

We went to watch 'The Departed' with really high expectations. 'A lesson in how to make a good movie great' was what it said in one of the reviews that Trish has read. Awesome, we thought as we really liked 'Infernal Affairs'.

30 minutes into the movie, I found myself yawning and wondering whether the camera angles and transitions that Scorsese has done was appropriate. There's this circular/telescopic transition which kinda reminds me of James Bond and this Bird's eye view shot that sort of bothered me. But that's ok I guess, maybe I'm over-analyzing it. Then I realized I wasn't really happy with the editing either. I looked at Trish to find any clues if she's enjoying the movie but the expression on her face looked like she's just been given a calculus equation.

Ok, so what's wrong? This was supposed to be a tighter version and it's been getting rave reviews like how Jack Nicholson was so 'intense'. We thought he just looked old and pathetic. Only Leonardo did a decent job but maybe that's because I kept comparing it to the Hong Kong movie. Even Mark Wahlberg's character seems unnecessary and in fact just feels distracting. Don't get me wrong, I like Marky Mark and I've actually seen most of his movies.

I thought that 'Infernal Affairs' established the backgrounds of each character really well. It gives them depth and makes the connections seamless throughout the entire movie. This was missing in 'The Departed' and when they rewrote it, they just added more loopholes.

If I would write a review for this movie, I would probably say something like 'A lesson in how to ruin a really good movie'. But then again, that's just me. And Trish. And that's all that matters (to us).