Exiled – A Review

Ever since John Woo realised two guns were better than one, Hong Kong has been the Sorbonne of action movies. Exiled, the latest offering from relative neophyte Johnny To, is a fine and bloody addition to a pantheon that includes: A Better Tomorrow, Bullet in the Head and, of course, the incomparable Hard Boiled (or Boiled Egg, to borrow a friend’s malapropism). Whether Hong Kong movies are any good is almost a moot point (look at Wong Kar Wai; he’s been cranking out nonsense for years). Hong Kong gave movies adrenaline, a try-anything infusion. Gangsters need two guns in Hong Kong, almost because (in Hong Kong) there’s more to shoot.