Exiled

Exiled (2006)

This movie starts off very strange with a couple of men that show up to kill someone and a couple of men that show up to protect him. The odd bit is that they all seem rather friendly with each other, including the intended victim! I mean other than the big gunfight where they try and kill each other. The story then plays out that the intended victim of the hit was exiled by the local boss and has come back to town causing a hit to be put out on him. The four men are his friends from when they were younger, which explains the odd start to the movie. The intended victim, Wo, then asks that they help him pull off one last job to take care of his wife and young son. They agree to help him out, which sets off a series of events that involve the attempted hit on a gangster, a van full of gold bars, and an amazing final shoot out that is one of the best I’ve seen.

This is an great movie. The story can be a bit confusing to start, but that only makes what happens later all the more enjoyable. Exiled is the kind of movie that starts off with the audience in the dark and slowly reveals the plot and how the characters are connected to each other. Many movies try to do this and end up just being a confusing mess. But when done well, as Exiled is, it makes for an engaging and entertaining experience. Trust me the actions of some of the characters might seen really bizarre and pointless, but at the end it all makes sense. Oh and the ending of the movie is just killer. This might be on of the best endings to an action movie that I’ve seen in years. I don’t want to say anything else that might spoil it, so I’ll stop here.

In addition to a great story that sucked me right in Exiled also sprinkles in some great action sequences throughout the runtime. They are very chaotic and while not terribly realistic more than make up for it with style. The sequences are chaotic and the action comes flying at the audience in rapid fashion. But unlike less talented directors who just toss the camera around in nausea inducing fashion that makes it impossible to follow, here the director Johnnie To makes sure the audience can keep track of what is happening. This is the first of To’s movies that I’ve seen, but I can promise you it won’t be the last. He has been directing movies since the early 80s and I will track down some of his other efforts.

Bottom line guys is that I really got a kick out of Exiled. It is an entertaining and exciting movie that had my attention from start to finish. I highly recommend it. You can get Exiled on a killer double feature with Dynamite Warrior, which is another fun movie.

3 out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer