The material isn't anything new, however the plot combines two age-old Hollywood stories to create a hybrid drama which gives it the fresh feel. On one end of the plot we have our central protagonist Daniel Wu dealing with the isolation of being an undercover cop and his past trauma with drug abuse. On the other end of the plot is his infiltration into Andy Lau's heroin ring, and his attempts to become the successor to the operation in order to solidify his case. Unfortunately the story on its own is fairly stale, although what polishes the movie greatly is the excellent cinematography and standout performances from Wu and Lau. There are some fantastic visuals which capture the mood of the characters and run down environments around them. In addition the audience can tell Wu and Lau are really passionate about their roles and they react to their dialogue and environments genuinely to where you understand what each is thinking without a word needing to be said. The execution of the crime-drama material here is superb and feels on par with that of Johnnie To. The various DVD covers of this movie are deceptive however, and in no way is this an action feature. This is a slowly paced drama about one cop's different confrontations with heroin and it's many users. In that sense the film is flawless, and does what a good drama should, but at the same time the conclusion doesn't offer any surprises. -8/10