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 t
is now 2 years after the events of "Election",
and the Wo Sing Hong Kong Triads are once again
set to elect a new Chairman as per tradition,
which requires that one new Chairman be selected
every two years and for only one term, without
exceptions. This last part proves to be
unacceptable for the current Chairman, Lok (Simon
Yam), who had previously murdered his best friend
and rival for the job at the end of the first
film. With the "Uncles" set to elect the
gang's top money earner, the business-minded Jimmy
(Louis Koo) despite the young man's insistence
that he doesn't care for the position, Lok sets a
bloody chain of events in motion to ensure a
second term.
"Election 2" is
very much the perfect continuation of
"Election", with the filmmakers
retaining all the elements of the first film
without missing a beat. Once more, the action
comes in spurts, while the real meat of the story
is its gangland politics, changing loyalties, and
double crosses among the various factions vying
for the position of Chairman. As was the case with
"Election", while Johnnie To and his
screenwriters allow us to feel some empathy toward
these men of the Wo Sing Society, we are never
allowed to forget that they are men of tremendous
violence, capable of actions we can never fathom
or approve of. Their legacy is seep in blood,
their lifestyle drenched in darkness and
neverending fear, and there is always the
acknowledgement that, no matter how high you
climb, you are never too high to fall.
"Election 2" offers
up an overarching subplot involving Mainland
China
's interference in Triad politics, with the Triads
as stand-ins for
Hong Kong
itself. With his business in
China
, the source of his ambitious expansion,
threatened by Chinese law enforcement, Jimmy is
forced to seek the Chairman position of the Wo
Sing. The fact that Jimmy is encouraged to kill
his way to the top in order to maintain his
illegal holdings in
China
would most assuredly strike a cord with many Hong
Kongers, who have always looked at the Chinese
Government ever since the 1997 handover from
British rule with more than a little suspicion. It
would seem to be this distrust that the film, in
particular its Big Reveal at the end, clobbers
home.
What sustains much of
"Election 2" is the quiet, visceral
struggle between Simon Yam's sociopathic Lok and
Louis Koo's quiet, unassuming Jimmy. The two men's
battles involve returning cast member Jet (Nick
Cheung), Lok's right-hand man, who has been living
in the shadows, in squalor, as Lok makes promises.
One suspects that Jet knows Lok's promises are
empty, but left with few options, he follows in
lock step anyway. Ultimately it is the power
struggle between Jimmy and Lok, filled with
unpredictable twists and (ultimately logical)
bloody conclusions, that makes "Election
2" as good as it is. Buoyed by two tremendous
actors capable of playing more than what is given
to them on the written page, "Election
2" comes off without a hitch.
For those who have already
seen "Election", part two doesn't offer
anything new. Once more, there are still no heroes
to root for, as every character eventually gets
their hands bloody in order to achieve their ends.
Forget about the wild gunfights of John Woo
movies, or the popcorn nature of the "Young
and Dangerous" franchise. One gets the
feeling that Johnnie To and company has really
captured the true spirit of the Triads, and if
this isn't how things actually are, it
nevertheless feels true. The lifestyle is a neverending cycle of violence, greed,
ambition, and ultimately, terrible soul-wrenching
destruction. Witness Lok chasing his son toward
the end of the film just to understand how much of
a price the humbly dressed gangster has paid for
his Triad ambitions.
Despite being a rushed
sequel, "Election 2" proves to be a
slight improvement over the first film. To's
direction remains minimalist, edgy, and to the
point, and the approach to gangland activities are
still immerse in shadows and viscerally and
suddenly violent, as they should be. For fans of
the franchise, the film has done well enough that
Hong Kong
producers are probably scrambling to get an
"Election 3" put together. But while I
wouldn't mind the continued adventures of Louis
Koo's Jimmy, I find Nick Cheung's Jet much more
fascinating. Where does he come from? What does he
want? And just how far is he willing to go to
achieve his ends? These are questions I wouldn't
mind exploring in "Election 3".
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