Protege
   

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Director:  Derek Yee
Year: 2006
Rating: 7.0

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I  believe that in the latest census in Hong Kong they discovered that close to 30% of the population were actually undercover cops. Or so you would expect if you have watched the spate of Hong Kong films of late revolving around them. This is the latest from one of the premier veteran directors in Hong Kong, Derek Yee. He brings back Daniel Wu who was so effective in Yee’s One Night in Mongkok – this time as an undercover cop who has over the past seven years been slowly rising to the top of a drug gang headed by Kwan (a bored looking Andy Lau). Kwan has kidney problems and is planning for early retirement with his wife (Anita Yuen) and his girls and he is preparing Nick (Wu) to take over. This part of the film is very solid with a few terrifically tense scenes that play out as Nick attempts to keep his cover going – but in another sub-plot Nick becomes friends with his female next door neighbor and her little girl. She (Zhang Jingchu) turns out to be a heroin addict who has a creepy husband (Louis Koo) hounding her. The husband is also an addict and dreadfully played by Koo with rings around his eyes that are so dark they could blot out the sun. Yee was very forthright about wanting to make a strong anti-drug film, but this thread of the film is so heavy handed and clunky that it is at times more giggle worthy than emotionally effective. Otherwise, this is another strong effort by Yee with some excellent exterior scenes that occur in Hong Kong and Thailand and a good performance from Wu.