Tumbleweeds in Macau - Exiled

53 minutes. That's how long Exiled manages on its good looks before it becomes obvious director Johnnie To has no idea what's going on. Yet despite the lackluster script, I have to admit I enjoyed the film from beginning to end, minus ten minutes around the halfway point where it seemed to be drifting into a stagnant repetition.

Although it's set in modern-day Macau, the film has drawn frequent comparisons to Sergio Leone's spaghetti westerns. It's easy to see why with an opening sequence that recalls the three-way shootout at the end of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Simultaneously, elements of Sam Pekinpah's The Wild Bunch are evident in the carnage of Exiled's final scene in a brothel.

Following a brotherhood of criminals who've known each other since childhood, Exiled takes them through a gang war and vendetta as well as that wild west staple, the highway robbery. As a result, both the scenarios and the scenery remain fresh even as they really only serve to provide To with constantly evolving action set pieces.

The sensibilities of the western make for an odd but somehow effective marriage with To's own stylized action filmmaking, a direct descendant of the works of John Woo and Tsui Hark. With inventive gunplay - that thankfully never degenerates into pirouettes or gun fu - the action is palpable, even providing humorous relief as with a unique - if blatant - product placement of a can of Red Bull.

To, who is best known in America for Infernal Affairs - the film that was remade as Martin Scorcese's Oscar Winning The Departed - infuses the film with a consistently bleak atmosphere and score, tempered by beautiful scenery and gorgeous firelight and tungsten hues. In addition, his actors' charisma and comfortable rapport with one another sufficiently keep Exiled enjoyable despite a muddled plot.

Exiled showed up in theaters for a week or two late last summer before coming to DVD in December. I won't pretend it's for everyone, but if you fondly recall the days of Hong Kong action cinema and its stylized violence, Exiled is definitely worth a look.