The drab, dusty, industrial backdrop of what is purported as the
unglamorous metropolis of Tian Jin, China, tacky haute facades are the setting
for Drugs War’s series of raw, tension filled episodes. From a country riddled
with censorship, Drugs Wars, a film by Johnnie To, is an
unbridled glimpse of organized crime and crystal meth in China. Although
perhaps a tad sensationalistic, the film delivers a bold statement: the Chinese the drug market is
alive and well.
Louis Koo plays a busted crystal meth baron who has a choice, either
help police bust a massive organized crime syndicate, or be executed. He
chooses to help police.
In an elaborate tireless scheme, actor Honglei
Sun dazzlingly plays a police officer portraying a criminal in the attempt to
infiltrate this upper echelon syndicate. The best scene of the
film is when Sun’s character is forced to rail two massive lines of crystal
meth as part of this act. The effects of the meth play out into a powerful
piece of cinema. Post- OD, literally having come back from the edge death, the
chase for the criminals continues with out a flinch.
At times this police tenacity is too exaggerated to be believable.
The chase for the bad guys goes on endlessly for days. None of the cops ever
eat or sleep. They seem to have inexhaustible resources at their disposal. They
are able to commandeer an entire harbour just to put on a show of authenticity
for the crooks. The cops risk their lives over and over, and for what? To rid
the world of a few truckloads of drugs? The conventional divide between the
good guy cops and bad guy criminals doesn’t blur, until it does. After an epic
final gun battle, we have no idea who’s who.
Drug Wars attains
excellence as an action movie and serves as a rare example of a controversial work
to emerge from a country that produces so much state-approved propaganda.
7.5/10
