Customer Reviews

Protege [Blu-ray]

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Protege is a very Hollywood'esque type of Hong Kong movie dealing with the familiar subject of drugs, drug dealers, and cops and has a whole lot of similarities to "Infernal Affairs". First and foremost you'll recognize Andy Lau appearing in Protege, but this time around he plays more of a supporting role similar to a Don Corleone type of character. Unfortunately, Andy Lau's character "Quin" doesn't have any sons so he needs to find a successor soon, due to his deteriorating health. In a familiar Infernal Affairs type of gaffe, Quin picks Nick as his heir apparent. Nick, played by Daniel Wu, is an undercover cop planted for the sole purpose of bringing down Quin's drug empire. One of the first scenes in the movie also has a similar Infernal Affairs type of scene involving several cop cars tailing drug dealers out to make a drug deal. The cop cars are all being relayed real time information via cellphones by other cops monitoring the drug dealer's movements.

What I liked about "Protégé" - The little girl that played Jane's daughter was cute as can be and did a wonderful performance, especially considering her age. The film also takes an unexpected diversion into the remote Thai area overlapping the Golden Triangle. During these scenes in Thailand, the viewer is treated to scenes of mammoth elephants, Thai rebel soldiers, and colorful opium poppy fields. The movie also goes into a surprisingly detailed overview of the entire Heroin making process. This would have been the most original aspect of Protege. Finally, Daniel Wu gave a very solid performance and his character was very personable.
What I didn't like about Protege - The movie was often shot in this slick MTV style, which I found off-putting. Most of the drug scenes involving Jane was filmed in this style, as well as the sex scene between Jane and Nick. Also, Jane at times looked like she was doing a modern art dance while getting high or convulsing from an overdose. Finally, the whole theme of the dangers of drugs and the undercover cop working for the drug dealers was typical stuff that someone could have written in 15 minutes while sitting on the can.

In retrospect "Protege" covers a very familiar topic except those 15 minutes spent in Thailand. I would guess if you like action movies/crime thrillers, especially the Hong Kong variety, you will enjoy Protege a whole lot more. There's really no glaring faults in the movie, but then again there's nothing in this movie you haven't seen before. Drugs are bad - we know that. Undercover cop feels almost loyal to the people he is out to bust - we have seen that. Big crime lord gets caught in the end - we have definitely seen that. With that in mind, if you asked me to sum up "Protege" in a few lines, I would use the line that Quin often repeated to Nick, which was "...never take risks." A mantra that the filmmakers truly took to heart.