Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

Sexyloutak Absolutely the worst movie.

Kailansorac Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

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

webmaster-3017 It's a great film, so stop using that needle… It's May and it's about time and once again director Derek Yee delivers quite possibility one of the best movie of 2007. Yee have created a powerful film, an almost flawless display and once again showing what a real HK film should be like. It is full credit to Yee's ability to extract the best from the potential filled Daniel Wu, a touch of lost flair from Andy Lau, capturing the innocence of Zhang Jingchu and perhaps a career boost for Louis Koo to finally step out of his comfort zone. It is Yee's ability to combine the above comments with relevant social concerns and in turn creating a powerfully driven and emotionally charged movie about the consequences of drug and beyond. It's been a while, since Neo clapped his hands and the effort that Yee and producer Peter Chan puts in deserves a lot more and in the progress showing to the HK audience that HK movies are still worth watching. Now that's something to be proud of.It is a magical feeling that allows the audience to reflect upon the consequences of their actions and inactions. Yee goes beyond the undercover genre and miles above the drug industry, by using the imageries of birds as a focal point of humanity. Remember the days of the bird flu, and all of a sudden people are afraid of bird. Is it the bird's fault that they have caught the flu or is it the fault of human nature. As a result, we have to kill the birds and dispose of them, in order to stop the problem from getting worst. So why didn't we stop the problem, before the problem even arises? Such are questions that Yee tries to portray and after all, why do people take drugs. We all know drugs are bad, but yet people still addict into it. So does the fault goes towards the drug addicts for wanting it in the first place, or does the fault lies in the ones who create and sell them. This is where Andy Lau comes in and somehow he managed to portray the character in a manner that you do not usually see Andy as. Then again, he could well be right, perhaps it is all about supply and demand – they want it, so I sell them.Going into the film, I had no idea who directed it, but within seconds, you could feel the atmosphere and style of direction that only Derek Yee can manage. Daniel Wu should be proud of this performance, even though at times it's seemed like a rehash of his previous role in A Nite in Mongkok, but still it is easily Wu's best ever performance. It is his ability to carry the film on his shoulder with Andy Lau looking on, is an image that shows the fact of Wu's finally coming of age. It is great news for HK cinema and his facial expressions and acting have steadily improved. Not unlike Andy Lau's protégé, Wu is just as hard working and as Neo claimed from day one, you can see the effort that Wu tries is clearly his best. It shows that hard work might not make you a natural talent, but at the very least it does make up for it. Another person worthy of praise, is the scene stealing cameo performance from Louis Koo, who for the first time in years, he is able to step out of his shadow within the blink of romantic comedies. It is bravo effort and an immensely tense display of druggie. Andy Lau has decided to take a step back and allow a young protégé in Wu to shine and in the progress he is able to portray a character and a personality that you rarely see in Lau's work. It is different from his acclaimed performances in Infernal Affairs and Running Out of Time, but instead this time his outsmarted and those moments in the toilet reminds us of what Lau is capable of.It is also worthy of noting the return of much missed Anita Yuen, and while her role is almost non-existent and irrelevant, it is a welcoming return and clearly acted beyond her limited script. Last, but not least and quite possibility one of the most memorable performance in 2007, it is Zhang Jingchu. Zhang, who shined so brightly in Tsui Hark's Seven Swords, depicted a menacing display of being torn into a world of drugs and the tension of being a mother with an air of innocence in seducing Wu. It is ultimately a portrayal between the beauty and ugly side of human nature.All in all, Protégé is a powerful film that leaves the audience thinking and continues to think. Drug is a bad thing, but sometimes it makes you wonder whether it is the feeling of emptiness caused by human nature and events that is far worst. Drug by itself is never a bad thing, but it is the people and their actions towards the drug that makes it a bad thing. Yee have shot a beautiful film and the use of birds to ultimate express the core of the film is nothing short of brilliance. With a team of Yee and Peter Chan, it is hard to imagine what can really go wrong and not surprising together they have created something important. It is probably not flawless, but in Neo's honest opinion, he can not find any. Perhaps you can criticize the lack of development of some characters, but really it isn't worth noting. Yee have created something special and delivered a present to the doorstep of every eagerly awaiting HK cinema lovers. It may sound cliché, but Neo just love it…I rate it 10/10www.thehkneo.com

ebiros2 By watching how life of people surrounding heroin, this movie will touch you. The story is that up close, and no one has succeeded in bringing this topic in such a surreal way to the big screen as the Protégé.Director Derek Yee brings no bares held tale of undercover cop, Hong Kong drug lord, and the lives of people affected by the use of heroin in a tight plot and excellent script.The framing of the visuals, the portrayal of the people of this level can only be accomplished by an excellent movie, and this movie takes it to the next level.If you've never seen this movie, you owe it to yourself to see it. It brings a new level of story telling to the cops vs drug lord genre.

samuelding85 Brian De Palma talks about cocaine in Scarface, the 1983 drug epic that makes Al Pacino well known for his role of Tony Montana, a ruthless drug lord that trades cocaine in the early 80's.Now meet HongKong director Derek Yee, who creates a friendlier Montana of HongKong, Quin aka the Banker. Andy Lau took the role of Asia's friendly Montana, who trades heroin instead of cocaine. He decided to hand his heroin business to Nick (Daniel Wu), his driver who has followed him for 8 years. Nick is just like Manny Ribera, the best friend of Montana. However, Nick is actually a police undercover who has been gathering evidence to nab Quin and his organization.Protégé is an adaptation from one of the case handled by the HongKong police. Audience who has watched Yee's previous production such as One Night in Mongkok, The Truth About Jane and Sam and C'est La Vie, Mon Cherie knows that he would not overuse use any car-chasing or gun-firing to achieve the effect of telling the story of the battle between the police and the underworld. Instead, he uses down to earth dialogues to tell the story. Having a plot that discuss drugs, the film goes deep into the world of drugs, from money to damage, from love to extreme hatred from drug abusing.Certain scenes featured explores the damages done to the people for abusing drugs. In the film, damages were featured in the character Jane (Zhang Jing Chu) and her husband (Louis Koo), where both were drug abusers. The husband forces the wife to prostitution so as to feed his craving for drugs. Jane, on the other hand, starves herself and did not give proper education to her daughter, for she was too poor and tired to take care of her daughter. Eventually, her cravings for drugs leads to her self-destruction.Audience are treated to a exploration of the Golden Triangle located in the South East Asia, which was well-known in the world for poppy plantation. The film also features steps in producing heroin, such as growing, extraction, processing and the various names used to differentiate types of drugs. Compared to other films that discusses drugs, Protégé has featured something that others have never tried before.Apart from the above named cast, Protégé also features Yee himself as Nick's superior, the banker's wife (Anita Yuen's comeback appearance after ceasing herself from the big screen for a long period) and Qi Yu Wu (an Singapore actor from Mediacorp). While it is a surprise to see Yee and Yuen taking supporting role in the film, Qi's role as a Singapore Police Officer seems pretty redundant, for that few second's appearance doesn't make much difference. It is not surprising to see Qi given such a small role, since Protégé is a production of Singapore Mediacorp's Raintree Pictures and they are well known for using throwing in their own actors playing redundant roles. Think Tay Ping Hui in Andrew Lau and Alan Mak's Infernal Affairs 2 and Hossan Leong in Max Makowski's One Last Dance, where Raintree has a part in it.Overall, Protégé might seems to be another films about drugs, but once you go deeper into the film, you will find the ugliness of drugs baring naked in front of you.

BanBan Boosting some of Hong Kong's film industry biggest with producer Peter Chan (Perhaps Love) and director Derek Yee (C'est La Vie and One Night in Mongkok), "Protégé" looks set to become this Hong Kong biggest film this Chinese New Year.The Protégé here is Nick (Daniel Wu), trained to take over Jong's (Andy Lau) heroin trafficking business, but is in fact a police officer. His inner conflict is between the loyalty towards his 'teacher', and duty towards his job and justice. Things get more complicated when he falls in love with a heroin-addict (Zhang Jingchu), forced to detriment by her husband (Louis Koo).The story of an undercover police would remind many of "Infernal Affairs", especially when both stars Andy Lau. The difference lies in its subtlety. While there are still police chase scenes and fights, the focus of the film is on the character development more than its actions.Daniel has proved his acting abilities in One Night In Mongkok. Though he is playing the lead role in "Protégé", his character lacks of a very distinct quality to showcase his acting skills. This is so for Andy Lau's 'baddie' role as well, and you can't put across strongly how you should feel for him. Anita Yuen has very little screen time, perhaps due to the fact she was six months pregnant, and there could be more chemistry between her and Andy Lau.The scene stealer is the refreshing China actress Zhang Jingchu who breathes an air of vulnerability and frenzy as a woman forced by circumstances. We should expect more from her as she moves on to a Hollywood in Rush Hour 3. Louis Kook, in stained teeth and tattered clothes, changes his image successfully playing her abusive husband.Starting off slowly, the movie picks up after moving to the Golden Triangle, where audience are treated to the eye-opening sight of heroin plantations and produce."Protégé" may not be adrenalin pumping or mass audience entertainment, as director Derek Yee probably wanted to weave in a social message in a subtle and restrained manner. The last scene was enough for me to understand the story, though you wished he had pushed the movie forward a little more.http://themovieclub.blogspot.com