The action is regularly punctuated by moments of messy, inconvenient realism.

| Original Score: 9/10 | Oct 13, 2020

Not every last little thing may work in Johnnie To's new crime thriller, but the vast majority of it clicks together as a damn solid piece of action craftsmanship, anchored by two good leads.

| Jan 13, 2020

To is a born storyteller, and his work here is nothing short of astonishing. Drug War is a great film

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Aug 7, 2019

An elegantly paced thriller that effectively avoids dependence on cliché.

| Jul 24, 2019

For fans of To Drug War can't be missed, and for people new to his style it's an excellent way to get introduced to a truly great director.

| Original Score: 7.9/10 | Jun 29, 2019

Drug War, is yet another feat of fantastic storytelling brought to the screen.

| Oct 26, 2018

To's first full beachhead into Mainland filmmaking...thus combines exhilaratingly articulated structural formalism with a politically ripe engagement of the meaning To's images have when operating in a new world.

| Nov 16, 2017

To's devotees will likely find more of value in Drug War's frantic construction, this newcomer was left alternately thrilled and cold to mildly satisfying ends.

| Original Score: B- | Jul 11, 2016

Drug War is [Johnnie] To's most streamlined picture to date.

| Feb 12, 2016

What the hell: "Drug War" is a taut, minor masterpiece. It felt like watching early Walter Hill for the first time-"The Driver," "Southern Comfort"-and that is a very good feeling indeed.

| Apr 8, 2014

Almost perfect.

| Original Score: A | Apr 8, 2014

...as nimble as a ballet dancer, even while dancing in muck.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jan 10, 2014

A nicely tangled, smartly paced and cold little thriller-nothing more, nothing less.

| Dec 27, 2013

The most purely enjoyable action film of the year, and I can only hope the inevitable American remake doesn't screw it up too badly

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | Dec 26, 2013

The police procedural crime drama has dedicated Chinese narcotics cops closing in on a big-time drug manufacturer in a risky undercover operation.

| Original Score: B+ | Dec 20, 2013

This film about cops and drug dealers in China is a lot like a story set in the Old West with outlaws and lawmen engaged in gun battles. There probably is a point to all this conflict that is lost in the translation.

| Original Score: B | Dec 17, 2013

Visually, it's a gritty throwback that's certain to please genre aficionados.

| Dec 11, 2013

Not only does the film never question the ethics of a war on drugs in which dealers and manufacturers are subject to the death penalty, it appears to enthusiastically endorse it.

| Nov 4, 2013

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.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Oct 17, 2013

"Drug War" may not add anything particularly new to the genre, but that doesn't make it any less of a thrilling ride.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Oct 14, 2013