Good remake

Finally Hollywood does more than just sully the name of a decent Asian flick. Most remakes have been absolute trash but The Departed does a good job of standing up to Infernal Affairs.

The pacing was a little off in parts but the acting was for the most part top notch. I am not a huge fan of Nicholson but even he didn't piss me off as much as he usually does.

The movie falls short in that it made the audience laugh unintentionally in a few places - whether that is the fault of the movie or of general movie-goers is a totally other matter. There are a few beautiful scenes from the original that are missing/lacking in The Departed and I found they explained things too much. Too much talking and too much pushing each other around. Infernal Affairs excelled in what wasn't said - I missed that in The Departed. The ending in this is terrible by comparison to the original.

Overall though a solid movie and a "should watch". I'd give it a "must watch" but there is a better movie from Hong Kong with the same storyline that you should see instead.

8/10