Du zhan 2012

Manohla Dargis, New York Times: While Mr. To may not fill the movie with rousing speeches, either by inclination or out of political necessity, the brilliant, unsettling action scenes - ugly, savage, dehumanizing - speak volumes. Read more

Tom Keogh, Seattle Times: An intense and constantly surprising crime story in which destiny seems to fold in on itself ... Read more

Boyd van Hoeij, Variety: Hong Kong action maestro Johnnie To takes his genre filmmaking savvy to the mainland in Drug War, a nail-biter that's actually quite light on action but so well-scripted and shot, it's nonetheless edge-of-your-seat material. Read more

Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, AV Club: Drug War becomes both weightier and more playful with each transition, building to a harrowing finale. Read more

Tom Russo, Boston Globe: Another inkling of the style limitations perhaps most responsible for To's lower visibility stateside compared with, say, his countrymen John Woo and Wong Kar-wai. Read more

Ben Sachs, Chicago Reader: Few other working filmmakers display this degree of visual sophistication and old-school craftsmanship. Read more

Jordan Hoffman, Film.com: "Drug War" is by no means a bad film, but it doesn't do much to push the needle of originality, and doesn't glide enough to represent perfection of the genre. Read more

Deborah Young, Hollywood Reporter: Dynamic chase film hits all the right buttons to fascinate edge-of-seat cop op addicts. Read more

Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: To has a great mastery of timing; he knows just how long to let a look linger before cutting away, how little he can reveal without losing us. Read more

Mark Jenkins, NPR: The story's apparent hero is a police captain without the quirks and complications of To's usual cops. But a scriptwriting team that includes co-producer and longtime collaborator Wai Ka-fai takes the story in satisfyingly unexpected directions. Read more

V.A. Musetto, New York Post: Cars go crunch, bullets fly, blood spurts, bodies splatter and an unbelievable amount of cocaine is snorted. The climactic shootout, which goes on for 15 minutes and has an astronomical body count, is a masterpiece of its kind. Read more

Tirdad Derakhshani, Philadelphia Inquirer: Drug War is a deeply intelligent, exhilarating and eminently satisfying adult crime story, one of the best thrillers you're likely to see this year. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: The big budget and big social canvas have called forth one of [To's] best movies, a dense and involving police procedural with a dash of the grotesque and a persistent undertone of doom. Read more

G. Allen Johnson, San Francisco Chronicle: As always, To delivers fantastic set pieces ... Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: [To] gives a solid 90 minutes of edgy foreplay before delivering the goods. Read more

Keith Uhlich, Time Out: The genre thrills are as potent as the story's themes ... Read more

Michael Atkinson, Village Voice: It doesn't attempt to raise the stakes on its genre, but instead fully exploits what's there, piecing together an elaborate narc campaign tale out of classic cliches and tight-knot plotting ... Read more