I'd disagree, some of the main differences between the two versions were cultural As an example, the streak of Catholicism running through The Departed, contrasts with the quotations from Nirvana Sutra in the original. The quick, flashy style of the original is also a HK trademark, though wouldn't say this lessens any emotional impact the film has, and certainly doesn't make it "simply fast-paced entertainment". It's up to the viewer to bridge the gap in these differences by recognising the universal qualities of the story, and not letting it handicap any enjoyment of the piece.
I felt that the big set-pieces were bungled in The Departed, and this lessened it's impact both as a film and as entertainment. For instance, the moment 15 minutes into the original at the stakeout where Andy Lau attemps to inform his triad boss to call off the drug meeting was brilliantly taut, and ended with a tense stand-off as Sam and Wong each make sure the other knows he's playing a game with fatal consequences. In The Departed, the same set-piece is baffingly moved into the centre of the movie, and ends with Alec Baldwin in a comedy punch-up. The relationships between the moles and their bosses felt more in equilibrium in Infernal Affairs, whereas in The Departed Martin Sheen's character felt more like an afterthought of a sketch, as if the writers had forgotten to pay lip service to the idea of mirror opposites. His death was nowhere near as emotional or spectacular as Anthony Wong's sudden appearance on a taxi roof in the Hong Kong original. The overload of characters in the American version was well hidden by great casting, but otherwise, it just made the film feel bloated. Mark Wahlberg's character was funny as hell, but if you think about it didn't really serve the plot at any point until the end. For me, The Departed is summed up by Coppola's proclamation that Scorsese only does certain movies for the money.
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