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An undercover narc is torn between his affection for the drug lord he's trying to bring to justice and the ugly reality of his criminal activities in this gritty thriller from One Nite In Mongkok's Derek Yee. Adhering closely to the Infernal Affairs template, this is a taut, involving affair that makes up for what it lacks in freshness with a sheen of slick professionalism. Scratch beneath it, though, and you find a sentimental streak as long as any track mark.

Eight years of infiltrating a Hong Kong heroin gang has left Nick (Daniel Wu) unsure where he stands. On the one hand, his ageing, ailing boss Kwan (Andy Lau) sees him as a surrogate son ready to take over control of his profitable empire. On the other, Nick has a bird's eye view on the human cost of Kwan's dirty business in Fan (Zhang Jing Chu), the tragic junkie who lives across the way with a young daughter who has taken to call him "Uncle". Bless!

"GORY AND ACTION-PACKED"

Disgusted with his job and himself, Nick's crisis of conscience comes just as a rogue customs raid on Kwan's smack factory casts doubt on his loyalty. Reminiscent of the drugs bust from American Gangster, this gory, action-packed set-piece is an obvious highlight in a movie that takes pains to detail the minutiae of running an international cartel. Too often, however, Yee's script resorts to prim moralising, while an extended sojourn in Thailand amounts to little more than a lecture on global drug abuse.

Protege is out in the UK on 18th April 2008.