So-so remake of an excellent movie

Rating: 8/10 (13 July 2010)

Don't get me wrong, this movie is good, entertaining and the actors play well. The real problem is that this movie, while good is far from the movie it originated from... The original one, infernal affairs, was incredible and is really more realistic than the departed. It also has a much better pace, the movie is faster and still manages to produce more complex relations between characters.
Some important elements from Infernal Affairs were curiously removed -- such as as the scene where the police crew and the Mafia crew are sitting in the interrogation room immediately after they have just learned that each has a mole. As the Mafia boss and the police superintendent scan the room trying to get a clue as to who the mole might be, the scene effortlessly shifts from comical to tense all the while illustrating to the audience how faceless and destructive these moles actually are -- creating more of a sense of urgency to uncover their identities. Additionally, in the final scene in Affairs, the only person that knows the true identity of the undercover cop is Lau, the other mole. This minor detail makes the circumstances that much greater for both characters during the climatic rooftop scene. In Departed, we know that the Wahlberg character is still running around somewhere with this insider knowledge, making the desperate rooftop scene a little less...well, desperate.
The ending of the departed is disappointing too, it had to be a happy end...why ? Why do US filmmakers always think a happy ending is better ? It's not.
To sum it up, a good movie but not as good as its Chinese rival. If you liked this movie, you have to watch infernal affairs.