Election bustles with energy right from first minute to the last, smartly crafted by Johnnie To who gives an otherwise mediocre script a forward momentum that takes your breath away. Dazzlingly set action pieces, shady characters, and crackling tension together make Election the finest Triad film coming out from Hong Kong stable. How is Johnny To ever going to top this??

Gripping journey into a murky amoral world where honour and brotherhood clash with greed and a lust for power. None of the high-kicks and gun battles of so many Triad films, just great acting and direction. Special mention to the music, which I thought was wonderful. Only gripe is that as with many gangster movies it's hard to find a character one can relate to.

Like jogging through wet cement.

ugh this ending [and not in a good way].

Good ending

Has style in abundance, but lacks a coherent plot and characters you can identify with. Most of it just feels like a pastiche of American mafia movies like the Godfather or Goodfellas (the guy playing the "Big D" character basically does a Joe Pesci impersonation for the whole film), but none of it really gels together in any meaningful way. The ending feels like a completely separate film altogether.

It had an impact with me by the end, but the pacing was a bit slow at times and it's unfortunate considering To normally paces his films well. Watch only if you're a gangster movie junkie.

Who the hell are all those characters ? The first half hour I had the feeling I was watching a sequel where I was supposed to know all those persons. After that I was waiting for some interesting plot lines that didn't came..

In the beginning they showed dozens of characters without properly introducing them so I was a bit confused who was who. Soon after that people started switching sides every other minute so I was even more confused. This movie might be better in second viewing so you wouldn't have to spend half of the time guessing who someone is and who's side he is on but that doesn't change the fact that the story wasn't really interesting and some music selections were really bad.

Not quite the Godfather.

Very pretty, but shallow and underdeveloped.

Starts out slow, and turns into a Goodfellas, or sorts.

A gorgeous film, but I have yet to figure out what it is trying to say (about human nature? brotherhood? allegiance and duty?). Still, it is riveting and very competently made. The ending is not sitting well with me, but thankfully in the good sense.