Would give an applause to it, if one never saw the Infernal Affairs before

Rating: 5/10 (9 October 2006)

OK, saw the movie actually 2 days ago, didn't get a chance to think about it. Now with a refreshed mind, here it goes:
If one never saw the original "Infernal Affairs", you would fall in love with "The Departed" right away, after all it has an excellent plot. And with the legendary "Gangs" like Nicolson and Scorsese, we have every reason to have a high expectation. Unfortunately, this is not the case!
The Bad: If I want to sum it up, I would say that was because of Scorsese's passion over brutal violence, it prevents him to reveal the true essence (as human beings) of the movie.
1. I really feel sorry for Martin Sheen, his character in the movie is so pale, he does not show the deep and close relationship (as in the Infernal Affairs between Tony Leung and Anthony Wong), nor there was any sign shows he was even a capable cop. So unfortunately, I found myself hardly could feel sorry for what happened to him. Having said that,Infernal Affair's Anthony Wong did a superb job to catch the essence of his character.
2. OK, how about Mark Wahlberg's role? The obviously increased lines for him did not charm him a bit. With his boss being killed, and him as the only one knows about DiCaprio's true identity, he actually took a paid leave?! What's up with that? Does it even make a logically reasonable sense?! All right, he took his action in the end, but
3. Does it have to be a two and half hours movie? There are so many unnecessary scenes to my opinion. Just name a simple one here: when Matt Damon went in talking to the bad guy pretending he is the lawyer. PLEASE! We audience are no fool, you don't need to show everything to us, all you need to do is send Damon to the room and start talking. We would figure out the guy's lawyer did not show up. Well, there are so many in the movie, what I am trying to say is if Scorsese wants us to keep thinking about what happens and what will happen next, you ought to do a consistent job!
4. The most of all, this movie pretty much follows what the Infernal Affairs had to offer, the biggest shock? The ENDING! I have to say I was confused right after I saw the movie, I thought maybe I was too dumb to figure out what it meant. BUT, the more I think about it, the more I got disappointed. The ending was so bad it can literally take all the credits it gets. Let's set Mr. Scorsese's beloved violence scenes aside, for me, I think the essence for the movie is: the "good" and the "bad" does not really have a clear line in between to judge from. Just like Nicolson said: "When I was your age, they would say you could become cops or criminals. What I'm saying is this: When you're facing a loaded gun, what's the difference?" For that reason, I gave two thumbs up for Infernal Affairs' ending, sorry Scorsese, yours is just too lame!
Also, I am not buying the cell phone communication throughout the movie, personally, I think the Morse code is a much better way!
The Good:
1. Nicolson! To be honest, he is a perfect fit for this character. The only other possible candidate I can think of is Robert De Niro. Nicolson actually did a great job as Frank Costello. My only problem is I could hardly see Costello's foxy side. 2. The Shrink! OK, I have to say that is one shining point of the movie! Not like the original one assigned two female roles to the two leading actors, "The Departed" combines as one, which not only makes the character more standing out, but also adds another interesting twist to the story.