Reviews
Exiled
| Year: 2006 |
| Country: China (Hong Kong) |
| Genre: Action / Thriller / Comedy |
| Director: Johnny To |
| Reviewed by Jamie 01/11/2007 |
Before watching this, I had never seen anything by Hong Kong director Johnny To. I had heard good things about him but somehow had never gotten round to watching anything of his. Based on the reviews Id read, I was expecting his style to be like other Hong Kong legends such as Tsui Hark or even John Woo and although I am a big fan of both, I was pleasantly surprised to find something quite different from the usual gun ballet of Hong Kong Cinema.
The film takes place in Macau in 1998. Wo A former hit man has given up the gun to settle down with his wife and new born child. All is not well though, as two of his former colleagues show up at his door with orders to kill him. No sooner have they finished knocking on his door when two more of his former friends show up intent on stopping the others from carrying out the hit.
After a brief gun battle they all decide that there is no point in fighting each other and so join forces to help Wo raise some cash to start his new life.
This is where the plot starts to get a bit complicated. Wo and his four buddies pay a visit to an old acquaintance to try and get a quick contract to raise the money. This acquaintance sets them up with a hit on a local triad boss who is refusing to negotiate. The hit has been ordered by big Hong Kong triad Boss Fey, the same boss who ordered the hit on Wo in the first place.
The guys decide to go ahead with the hit and so stake out the restaurant where the action is supposed to go down. At this point Boss Fey turns up for one final attempt at negotiations, he immediately spots the five hitmen and all hell breaks loose. In the heat of the action, the two bosses finally decide to cooperate. The tables are turned on the poor hitmen as they find themselves being hunted down by both the boss they were supposed to kill and the boss who wanted him dead.
So thats the basic plot, it doesnt sound very different from your run of the mill Hong Kong action thriller but the difference is in the execution of the plot.
Johnny To seems to take a very different approach from most Hong Kong action directors, and while there is no arguing that this film is an action film at heart, it plays out in a very artistic manner. The characters are well developed, the dialogue is short but to the point and there are even moments of comedy that really illustrate the friendship between the men.
All in all I would highly recommend this film, it is well thought out, well shot and simply well done. The only word of warning I will give is that, while the action scenes in this are superb, if you are used to a more fast paced guns blazing style action film, you might be a little disappointed. Other than that, I would highly recommend this film to anyone, Hong Kong fan or not.