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Posted on 10.15.06 by David @ 4:17 pm
AKA: Fong Juk Review By: David Austin  Exiled is not a true sequel to Johnnie To’s 1999 fan favorite, The Mission, but it is a follow-up in spirit. To reunites the primary cast of the earlier film, Anthony Wong, Francis Ng, Roy Cheung and Lam Suet (though Jackie Lui has been replaced by current To fave, Nick Cheung), and sets them in action like dominos. However, The Mission, in which the men are hired to work as bodyguards for a criminal boss, was as much (if not more) about teamwork as it was about male bonding – one of the great pleasures of that film was watching the members of the group perform like a well-oiled machine. Exiled clearly sets its sights in the other direction. Every frame of the film drips with camaraderie and brotherhood, and To constantly returns us to a sepia photograph of the leads – loyalties run very deep indeed. The only female characters, Josie Ho and Ellen Chan, are total outsiders in this all-boys-club. Exiled starts quietly as Blaze (Wong) and his sidekick Fat (Suet) shows up one morning at the Macau home of disgraced gang member Wo (Nick Cheung). Wo isn’t home, but his wife Jin (Ho) and infant son are, and she clearly knows things are not good. Blaze is joined in his wait by Tai (Ng) and Cat (Roy Cheung). These men and Wo are all old friends, but Blaze has been sent by Boss Fay (Simon Yam) to kill Wo for a past attempt on Fay’s life. Not one man among them really wants to fight, but they find themselves in an impossible position. Eventually they come to the only solution, the proverbial “one last job.” Filed under: Movie Reviews and Movie Reviews: Hong Kong and Contributors: David and Rating: Good ★★★ and People: Johnnie To and People: Simon Yam and Studios: Milkyway Image and Movies: Exiled (2006) Comments: 1 Comment |
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Posted on 12.25.05 by Charlie @ 3:01 am
AKA: Hak Seh Wui Review By: Charlie Prince   If you like Hong Kong action movies, you undoubtedly know that the “Triads” are the Hong Kong equivalent of the Mafia. You’ve likely seen countless such films, and the frenetic – almost ballet-like – violence that has come to be associated with the genre. You probably either got started with the recent Infernal Affairs films, or more likely the earlier John Woo films, especially Hard Boiled and The Killer. You may even be following the latest wave of such films, many of which star Andy Lau, Eric Tsang and Anthony Wong. But, in any case, by now you’ve certainly learned to keep an eye out for Johnnie To – arguably the most important director currently working in the genre. Johnnie To’s latest film, Election, promised from Day One to be a new gold standard among Triad films. Thus the expectations for the film were impossibly high, and certainly it is not the reinvention of cinema. Nevertheless, I recommend the film heartily, with the caveat, as detailed further below, that it assumes a significant familiarity with the Triad film genre. For those coming to this genre anew, the film may seem disjointed or inaccessible – this is no gateway film. But the film is noteworthy for several reasons. (Click Here To Read More…) Filed under: Movie Reviews and Movie Reviews: Hong Kong and Contributors: Charlie and Rating: Great ★★★★ and Movies: Election (2005) and People: Johnnie To and Studios: Milkyway Image Comments: 4 Comments |
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