Sending ripples through the fan community (not really but that's not the point as you'll soon find out), Wong Jing as it turns out is LIKED by the Hong Kong critics as evident by his consecutive screenplay awards from the Hong Kong Film Critics Society (1*). Having ventured into triad- and cops movie territory on quite a reoccurring basis lately, basically since Infernal Affairs broke, there's certainly nothing wrong to get something semi-cheap out there that tweaks the usual scenarios (not Wong's intentions usually). This time he goes seemingly big on us with his synopsis of a thousand undercover cops in the triad society. Directed by the often semi-decent director (and ace editor) Marco Mak with an associate directing credit going to Wang Gwang-Li (2*), a disjointed and at times tough to follow/swallow narrative still emerges as one of the better written screenplays to on-screenplays Wong Jing has been responsible for since Colour Of The Truth (which he co-helmed with Mak).

The two directing system if you will, has been a recipe for Wong Jing lately also and it's not a bad idea in itself to bring in someone not having previously been his production house slave. Not that Marco Mak comes from the A-list but he's been carving himself a rep and name on his own so his professionalism (having served as editor on landmark movies prior) is welcome. Despite getting into trouble early by literally referencing Infernal Affairs and working little interest out of the intention to work out interesting ways to introduce characters, Wo Hu (3*) is possibly consciously over the map but it's a gamble it does not always succeeds at. Threatening to go very triad on us with an overabundance of characters, the film eventually reveals charms, quirks, effective grittiness, a thematic transferred well onto paper by Wong and co-writer Gary Tang and/or also helped along immensely by director Mak. I can't quite make up my mind on that one but seeing as the humour is not of Wong Jing kind, I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. He actually wanted something out of Wo Hu and the guys certainly manages to get our heads turning, looking for details as to who might be an undercover cop and who is definitely not. If that isn't us on the hook, I don't know what is.

Much is as per usual when Mak's busy camera documents the streetlevel. Triads are young punks looking like they're applying for a job at the circus, young punks favouring disrespect and lawlessness while some levelheaded veterans have come out of all this. Eric Tsang's cool headed Jim manages to stumble over love (the character played by Sonia Kwok who has an easy going rapport with Tsang until some dopey writing towards the end) and Francis Ng's Walter is equally much the family man whose son may just know his father's disguised triad slang a bit too well for comfort. Ultimately elements are going to clash and lines between good and evil will be distorted but Mak and co. decides to have some fun with what often can be a bizarre triad world. Ng's Walter is mostly at center here, doning the often forced tough guy triad act that just can't be maintained when all manner of off-beat, bizarre events occur around him. At one point his fellows have gathered up a crew consisting of old men dressed up as young rascals and when his assets are frozen, he gets a first hand account of how easily your followers turn on you. Starting with running from the restaurant bill. So the triad world is turning itself in and out, for incompetent reasons but also due to, as also echoed in Johnnie To's Election, the fact that uniting will be the toughest task currently. Loyalty shifts like people change underwear, especially so after the crucial event of the murder of one of the insiders. Characters do become pawns in a game orchestrated by cops but it's a game gone far we sense and the words much love lost begins to form itself into an end sentiment.

Terribly intelligent stuff coming from Wong Jing and despite taking its sweet time to find itself being a linear narrative, a quirky comedy turning stoic genre notions on its head, violent killings and drama collide pretty competently in Marco Mak's frame. His camera sometimes feels it's being cool for the sake of it but aside from some forced nature to it early, Mak reverts to trickery that absorbs for some good story purposes but also for the sake of playing around. And that's ok. Thankfully, his best moments aren't about that at all and I guess he should be thankful to have Wong Jing's writing backing him up then. The veterans Eric Tsang and Francis Ng superbly embody that good writing as characters are a bit weary of the dark, smug world that normally doesn't include notions of love. Actual romance, love for your family and the sitdown these characters have at one point is a wonderful study of having great character actors merely touch upon these notions but making it grow into a big thematic of the film.

Not without its problems overall as mentioned, Wo Hu is a typical example that possessing an uneven nature isn't always the biggest crime if you perform your good bits quite, quite well. This all means Wong Jing has performed consistently throughout this production and director Marco Mak has planted seeds visually and story-wise in order for this obvious Infernal Affairs inspired beast to actually mean something. The look, the feel, the effect of the genre at hand is evident but other glimpses into the ordinary that takes place outside of genre constraint and character's occupation within the film makes Wo Hu a minor sleeper hit for the year of 2006. Perhaps the critics wasn't smoking something?

(1) Prior year it was the competent but standard triad mish-mash Colour Of The Loyalty, starring Eric Tsang's eyebrows.

(2) Wang directed Francis Ng in Karmic Mahjong and as associate director, as the dvd extras informs us, he was in on the actual directing, with the emphasis being on the comedy.

(3) The name of the undercover operation, translated in the subtitles as "Crouching Tiger", a symbolic gesture. Whatever.

Written and produced by Wong Jing, and helmed by his long-time partner in crime Marco Mak, Wo Hu is a story of the cops attempting to flood the Triads with enough undercover officers to try and bring all of the major gangs down at once. Unlike most films of this type, it does not focus on the police and undercover officers -- rather, it is about the power struggle that happens in one particular group. The influx of undercovers highlights the division between the "old guard" (led by Eric Tsang and Francis Ng) and the "new school" (led by Jordan Chan and Julian Cheung).

Wo Hu operates with more than a little debt to Infernal Affairs, even going as far as to making specific references to the movie. And certainly most veteran Hong Kong film viewers will be able to guess most of the plot twists before they materialize. But Wong Jing's script is solid, only losing a bit of steam when it tends to focus on side stories that ultimately end up going nowhere (which thankfully doesn't occupy too much of the movie's running time). The actors, particularly Eric Tsang and Francis Ng, do a great job in fleshing out their characters and make them into believeable people, rather than the two-dimensional cardboard cutouts all too usually present in the Triad genre.

Sure, there are some problems present here. The romance subplot between the paunchy Eric Tsang and the former Miss Hong Kong Sonja Kwok -- probably some wishful thinking on Wong Jing's part -- is a stretch to say the least. And, like in many of his films, Marco Mak tends to go a bit overboard with fancy camera techniques and flashy editing. But overall, Wo Hu was one of the better movies to come out of Hong Kong over the past year and is definitely worth checking out if you're a fan of Triad pictures.