Exiled 2006

With the creative wells of John Woo, Ringo Lam and Tsui Hark now all but dried up, Hong Kong film buffs still have the remarkably consistent output of Johnnie To to be excited about. Following the one-two knockout punch of Election and Election 2, To's Exiled is an exhilaratingly heroic bloodshed throwback that shoves his Leone-crossed-with-Melville visual style to the fore. Nestled in themes of brotherhood, sacrifice and vengeance, the Western-styled plot reunites the gang from To's previous smash The Mission – Anthony Wong, Francis Ng, Roy Cheung, Lam Suet, Simon Yam – for a bullet-ridden rumble in Macau. Their characters are given unusual emotional dimension by the sheer kinetic language of To's direction, which also produces some of the most complex, phenomenal, and mind-blowing shootouts in years. To's ability to elevate the sight of blood-dripping bodies flailing in slow motion into transcendental, abstract poetry is what separates him from the pretenders. After this glorious example they should probably just call it a day.