Election 2 (2006)

Election 2: Directed by Johnnie To. With Louis Koo, Simon Yam, Nick Cheung, Ka Tung Lam. As election time nears, current Triad chairman Lok (Yam) faces competition from his godsons. At the same time, Jimmy (Koo) looks to increase his business relations with mainland China.

“I recently saw this at the 2007 Palm Springs International Film Festival and I had never seen the first film of this series but this still stands on itu0026#39;s own without the benefit of seeing the first film Election. This being distributed as Triad Election although in the opening credits is called Election 2. This is the story of a large Hong Kong crime syndicate that has itu0026#39;s hand in several business dealings from bootleg compact discs to government contracts in Hong Kong and on mainland China. Ten of the actors reprise their roles here from the first film. Lok is the head of the crime family of which was elected to serve a two year term and now his term is up. He wants to hang on to his power and not go into semi-retirement as an elder or uncle within the Triad. Jimmy is the odd-on favorite to win the election this time around but he is a reluctant candidate. He only wants to be a underworld businessman which he never will be unless he accepts the position as the elected one term leader of the crime family. Veterna director Johnny To is back as the director as well as the screenplay team of Nal Hei Yau and Tin-Shing yip, cinematographer Siu-keung Chang and production director Tony Yu. This is a violent film and many comparisons have been made with the Godfather and other American gangster films. Not knowing anything about this or itu0026#39;s predecessor film I didnu0026#39;t really know what to expect here but this is a well-polished film with a good story and plenty of interesting characters. I would give this an 8.0 out of 10.”