"Exiled" (2007)

Exiled is a fascinating look at male social bonds and the ways codes of honor manifest themselves amongst male friendships and ... Oh, who am I kidding! Exiled is an exceptionally well-crafted genre thriller. The film does it best impression of urban Leone-Peckinpah. Exiled is heavy on atmosphere and minimal on plot and theme, and in director Johnny To's capable hands the film becomes a seductively moody and tense piece of gun-play. The film is essentially a series of a wonderfully mounted action setpieces pulled off with panache, and there's just enough plot to get from action sequence to action sequence. There's a hit out on the gangster Mr. Wo, but the men who come to take him out can't go through with it -- turns out they're childhood friends and they just don't have it in them. Wo says he'll leave town if he can get enough money to support his wife and newly born son. So the team gets back together for one last score. This is complicated by the mob boss who put the hit out on Wo, and throws a kink in their plan to get Wo a nest egg. Exiled is lean, deftly told, fluidly paced, and directed by someone with a deep affection for this genre and who hopes to offer up nothing more than a damn good time -- boy, does To ever succeed.

 Grade: ★★★