Friday, October 15, 2010

A Fair Review The Movie Hit Exiled

By Peggy Clements

If you love action flicks, but you're getting tired of all this whiz bang, shaky camera stuff where you can't tell what the heck is going on, Exiled may be the antidote you're looking for. This makes any worthwhile action movie downloads list because the action isn't so darned all over the place. Everything is clear and coherent, you can tell what's going on. You rarely see action this... Graceful.

The story follows a former gangster who ran from his gang after ripping off their boss. Since, he's gotten married and had a child. The movie begins when the boss sends a pair of hitmen to take him out. This is complicated by the fact that these two were friends with their target, and furthermore, a couple of retired members of the Triad have come to protect their old friend from the other two.

There's a warmth and sweetness to what happens. Where most gangster movies are defined by that cold, impersonal "Just Business" approach to violence, here, none of the characters really want to shoot at each other, they've been friends since they were young, and they seem upset that it's come to this.

The movie was directed by Johnnie To, the Hong Kong legend, who came out with his first films around the same time as John Woo and Ringo Lam were defining the Heroic Bloodshed genre of HK action flicks. Where those earlier films were defined by the anger at the Chinese takeover of the city, this one has a sense of forgiveness, compassion and understanding, having been made after the takeover.

The movie has an odd, dreamlike quality to it. An opening gunfight has a bathroom door fly off its hinges and it twirls gracefully around the room until the firefight finally ends. Later we see a character throw a Red Bull can into the air, and the entire gunfight happens in slow motion before the can hits the ground. This is a bullet ballet.

The action is clear and coherent, the story isn't always so clear. This actually helps the film's dreamlike feel, so if you just watch it for the characters and for the action, the weird, twisty-turny story won't infringe upon your enjoyment of the film and what it really does have to offer the viewer.

The Heroic Bloodshed era of Hong Kong action flicks was certainly an incredible time for film lovers. Hard Boiled and City on Fire defined the genre, being angry, explosive films, showing independent characters taking on the masses as a symbol of Hong Kong independence against Chinese communism. Lam and Woo went to Hollywood, and you could argue the qualities of their American films. Johnnie To stayed behind and turned the genre into something entirely different.

Exiled is a rare action film, and certainly one to see if you want something a little different than the usual shaky-cam shootout flick. It's really a refreshing breath of fresh air if you're sick and tired of not being able to tell who's shooting who and how the heck that guy got on the roof. Definitely a change of pace. - 40725

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