Tactical Unit: Partners (2009)

The last of five TV Movies set after Johnnie To's PTU (2003). The teams get lumbered with a new recruit who's eager to please but too inexperienced to rely on. A tense altercation outside a disco exposes his insecurities, which eventually leads to a shit-storm, as you'd expect.
A youth with both Chinese and Indian parentage features heavily. His story isn't bad, but overall it's the first of the TV movies to feel more like a standard weekly drama in which the PTU are a part, as opposed to an organic extension of the original film. May and Sam at the same table is a sight to see, though; and elsewhere, while on patrol, their ability to convey an entire scene's worth of dialogue while not actually saying anything is as good as ever.

2½ outside jobs out of 5

Tactical Unit: Comrades in Arms (2009)

The fourth of five TV Movies set after Johnnie To's PTU (2003). It starts out with a superb scene wherein the geography of the city itself sets the tone perfectly for a deeper exploration of the dangerous rivalry that exists between Sam and May and the men under their command.
They're later shipped out of the city, into the mountainous region on the trail of a gang of bank robbers, so even the locale tests them, forcing them to be ever-alert to the other's attempts at one-upmanship.
The individual parts of the story aren't complex, but they're nicely arranged and the way in which they all come together is extremely satisfying to watch. Indeed, it's not until that moment that the real power of the film hits.

3½ church windows out of 5

Tactical Unit: Human Nature (2009)

The third of five TV Movies set after Johnnie To's PTU (2003) is mostly Tong's story. His gambling debts are out of control and his decision to go to a loan shark was a bad one; he's now in over his head, suffocating from the need to get cash quick or lose the last shred of his dignity. The rest of the team have their own problems with gang dealings happening in scattered locations across the city. The two things eventually find a common ground.
The scenes between Tong and Sam are few but still the best, most powerful sections of the instalment, where the differences between suspecting the truth and actually knowing it are measured in honourable actions.

3 mathematics questions out of 5

Tactical Unit: No Way Out (2009)

The second of five TV Movies set after Johnnie To's PTU (2003). Much of the focus is on a man named Fai (Derek Tsang), a small-time pedlar of illegally imported cigarettes. The PTU abuse him until he has no choice but to work for them, which puts him in the line of fire of the Triad gangs.
Fai and his friend (Wu Li) are the heart of the story. The careful sensitivity by which their relationship is shown is the most crucially affecting aspect. The performances of both Tsang and Li under pressure are genuinely amazing.
Be warned, there are some immensely harrowing scenes in the second half.

4 illuminated steps out of 5

Tactical Unit: The Code (2008)

The first of five TV Movies set after Johnnie To's PTU (2003). You don't need to have seen the original film in order to follow the story of each one.
Three members of the PTU are captured on CCTV while beating up a civilian (i.e. crook), but the picture is grainy and their faces aren't clear. While an internal division that deals with corrupt cops hunt for the truth, the guilty trio hunt for the one man who can identify them, the man they left bleeding in an alley. It’s a race against time for both parties.
The English subtitles aren't the best, but, really, we’re lucky to have received a western DVD release at all, so I'm not going to bemoan the spelling errors and frequent mixed tenses too much. I've seen a lot worse over the years.

3 wrong steps out of 5

PTU: Police Tactical Unit (2003)

aka Tactical Unit: Into the Perilous Night

A small team of Hong Kong police search for a comrade’s missing gun over the course of one eventful night. They’re the typical scumbag law enforcers that are common the world over, the kind that it's difficult to justifiably sympathise with, and yet somehow we do, and with each incremental, upwards notch of the danger level we're right there alongside them.
While it didn't have a huge budget, it has enough dramatic style and subtle humour to keep the meticulously paced slow burn engaging until the various threads of the story meet and the film becomes more than the sum of its parts; like the roads of a city, its avenues and pathways are interconnected.
There's music, occasionally, but mostly the sounds of the night time streets are what we hear, another subtle but perfect connection to the environment.

4 identical ringtones out of 5

The Mission (1999)

A HK gangster film considered by many as Johnnie To’s best work to date.
It follows five men of differing skill levels, each hired to protect a Triad boss who fears for his life. In-between gunfights the men spend their downtime getting to know each other in a roundabout way.
There’s an odd choice of music throughout. It takes the edge off the hardened setting, but is a crucial part of what gives the film its unique identity, so it’s best to just accept it and let it do its job.
Even if you dislike the overall approach that To took, you can’t dispute the fact that it’s an interesting addition to the genre.
I wasn't on the edge of my seat the whole time. I was, however, completely attentive and eager to see what would happen next.

4 walks of life out of 5

Election: Volume 1 (2005)

Every two years the Wo Shing society (Triads) hold an election to appoint a new leader. It’s hoped that he will respect the society’s traditions and lead them into prosperity until the next election comes around. But what if the losing candidate doesn't like to lose? What then?
This first volume (of two) is less stylised than some of Johnnie To’s other films and consequently a lot more believable. For most of the running time it not only gives the impression that the events portrayed on-screen could happen, but that that they actually do happen within that world.

3½ expirations out of 5