Sorry, this movie sucks

Boring, long, and too preachy.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

I bought this DVD after watching Infernal Affairs trilogy. The fact that I kept it for over 6 months before watching it shows that I didn't have much faith in this movie (as there wasn't much hype about it).This movie has an amazing twist at the end that made watching it worthwhile. Like many, I hit myself in the head saying "Damn, why didn't I notice the hints throughout the entire movie before they reveal the twisted ending".Although there were certain scenes that don't seem right (i.e. the guy who sells the guns wears a weird coat, why being a gangster is the only profession they can think of), I would still recommend it as a must-see.I liken this to "The Others", a movie where you couldn't quite figure out why they spend so much time on many unnecessary scenes when you expect a predictable ending. But at the end, the twist tied all the knots and leave your mouth wide open.

Somewhere on the Internet someone said Jiang Hu had the curse of coming after the Infernal Affairs series. Actually, that was not its only curse, and appeared to be the least of its worries. Forget the bar against which good triad movies are compared; just take the ordinary standards of a passably all-right movie that's worth your money and you will find yourself feeling short-changed.Nothing much happened in the movie, and what did happen in the movie, well, sucked. Sure, there was a really clever twist in the way the story was told, but that was a high point in an almost two-hour long low point, unless you are looking to find out more about triad philosophy, love weird disco scenes with weird looking people strutting weirdly at weird angles, or find sense in hearing Western music in a triad movie set for the most part in an Italian restaurant. Jiang Hu came off totally pretentious: one could actually feel that whoever was making the movie was trying desperately to come off as a sophisticate, intellectual and visionary, which is too much baggage for a tired plot. The distracting music and dance sequences, the 'play' on lights, the script from hell, the sudden silences, and the spastic Edison Chen added to a pretty long list of what could have been re-shot, reworked, rewritten and redone.Even to one who is no cineaste, hopping from one Chapman To movie to the next and going from this cheesy film to the next farce, it's a hard movie to watch and even more difficult to enjoy. Lower your lowered expectations.

I find this movie to be very cleverly written and directed. IMDb has the wrong names however. Jacky Cheung's character is called Mr. Left not Left Hand and Shawn Yue's characters name is Yik. All that aside, I really liked this movie. It's not your typical triad movie with lots of fighting and no character development. Don't get me wrong there is some action in this movie but unlike most triad movies you actually care what happens to the characters. I loved the dinner scene where Hung and Lefty are talking and the room behind them seems to be moving in an odd fashion, maybe it was a play off their emotions but I thought it looked really cool.I was a bit surprised by what this movie really was about. Because as you are watching it you think you know exactly what the movie is about and where its going, but the last 15-20 minutes gets you. You realize that you don't really know anything, everything you thought you knew is wrong.

Spoilers !!!Written by a university undergraduate, the script for Jainghu came to the attention of the filmmakers through a competition. Producer Eric Tsang said in a radio interview that it was love at first sight with this clever story. The 24-year-old director chosen to make this movie has no commercial movie experience, but has made his mark by several controversial indy work, including Fu Bo which was highly acclaimed in the 2003 Hong Kong International Film Festival. With this combination, you would expect something new, even if the majority of the casts have been teleported from Wu Jian Dao.The script could very well be a one-act play using a divided stage or some similar technique. Strip away the whistles and bells, it really hinges on one single clever twist, which, even with the spoiler warning, I'm not going to explicitly disclose. Suffices to say that in a small way, it tries to create the 'Sixth Sense' kind of shocking impact and, in a small way, achieves some results. The author being a young lady, the script does not build on the macho man bonding that is the foundation of so many John Woo films, but rather dwells on subtleties and titillating dialogue. Eric Tsang intimated that while 'jianghu' (literal translation 'rivers and lakes') usually refers to the gang-land world, and this movie is about the gang-land world, it is meant here to encompass intricate human relationships in a broader scope. For example, the back-stabbing applies, even if not literally, just as well to the business arena. The director, obviously conscious of the fact that this is his first commercial endeavor, takes particular care with every single frame to give the audience something different, but not stray too far away from the mainstream. This does work sometimes, particularly in the crisp, efficient technique of omitting the key frame where the action actually takes place e.g. when Andy Lau hands a piece of fruit on the tip of a knife to his wife, or when the gangsters kill two small children. However, after watching the entire movie, one tends to feel on the whole that he is a little overboard with this style thing.People talk about the influence of Godfather in Jianghu. Fact is, the baptism-and-murder montage has become so classical that to see it in one form of another in a movie is really no big deal (even Kitano Takeshi's 'Zatoichi' has it). Talking about similarities and influences, how about Big Fish, in the parallel development of stories in two time slots? Another example is the scene where physical aggression arouses sexual desire, referencing to a similar situation in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and, if a more literary example is needed, Robertson Davies' Deptford Trilogy, in the third book, World of Wonders. Turning to the cast, cool Andy Lau is what you would always expect. Although there's no delight unlooked for, you won't be disappointed. The explosive Jackie Cheung, on the other hand, will make you sit up and pay attention, particularly if you remember him last in the mild-disposition school teacher in July Rhapsody. It's the spark between these two that is really enjoyable, especially in the long, stage-play like scene in the plush restaurant, a duel of words. It's also good to see the young pair continuing to improve since Wu Jian Dao. Shawn Yue finally got some fire in his belly, especially in the scene where he witnesses the killing of his brother. Edison Chan, on the other hand, tackles a more subtle character, playing second fiddle, but with the maturity of showing the seriousness behind the clowning. Must also mention Wu Chien-lien who, after a period of absence, appears in such radiant loveliness, even better than in her Tian RuoYou Qing days.Although a little flashy, Jianghu is a good collaboration between two newcomers, giving the audience a freshness in an escape from banality.