The time is 1998. The setting is Macau. Every living soul jumps at every chance to make quick money before the Portuguese colony ushers in a new era under the Chinese rule. For the jaded hit men, they wonder where this journey will end. Against this background of fin-de-siècle malaise come two hit men from Hong Kong sent to take out a renegade member trying to turn over a new leaf with his wife and newborn baby. They soon find themselves in the throes of a dilemma when two of their former associates also show up, intent on thwarting them at every cost.

Like Once Upon a Time in the West, Exiled has a mystical quality to its narrative. One can tell that there is a powerful force working behind the scenes of the narrative - a force that is guiding, protecting, and driving the main characters. But this is not to say that the characters are merely puppets, strung along by the gods of some Greek tragedy - they are not automatons. A small handful of key decisions made by the characters are left to a simple toss of a coin (fate), and along their journey they do in fact meet a few characters who are there just to help them - like they had been awaiting their arrival (coincidence). Left in the hands of a less capable director, this kind of narrative could come off as being contrived, filled with too much convenience - but such is not the case here. To blends mild spirituality and myth with his gangster opera, and details how even with the best laid plans and intentions, the lives of his characters are governed by chance. However, this chance is balanced by their own die-hard personalities and tenacious skill; his characters play the odds, and they don't always win.

Exiled feels as if it is a closing chapter of sorts for To, much like Beat Takeshi's latest film. By bringing back most of the cast from The Mission, Exiled plays out as a reunion, perhaps a farewell to an era. The four main characters in Exiled share many of the same qualities as those in The Mission, but they are all older, somewhat wiser, and definitely more confident. Anthony Wong again plays the spiritual leader, the man who the others look up to, even if he doesn't always have the answers. Lam Suet once again plays the quiet tough-guy - I don't know if a more cool and collected, and strange looking, actor exists. Rounding up the foursome is Roy Cheung as the likable everyman, and Francis Ng as the twitchy-eyed loose cannon. These actors know these roles, and yes they have all played them many times before - it is as if these actors are the very physical manifestations of their on-screen archetypes. They also do a marvelous job of creating a strong bond, the deep rooted friendship can be felt, without the need of pointless flashbacks and needless exposition - everything is shown in the present context.

Johnny To's direction of the film is also masterful - this could very well be the crowning achievement of his career. The camera moves with confidence, as it weaves in and out of the beautifully lit sets and expertly choreographed gun fights. To has always excelled at two things: creating tangible energy, and building tension, and in Exiled, he does both better than he ever has. While most directors create energy with rapid cuts and hand held shaky-cam To does so with languid angles, perfectly timed edits, and fluid motion. Exiled feels like water - it effortlessly glides from one moment to the next with artistic fervor. It is also To's most beautiful looking film. Shot on location in Macau, the setting alone changes the entire atmosphere. By taking his hardboiled killers out of the streets of Hong Kong, and putting them in a more European looking environment, To's usual visual style is able to flourish and bask in the excitement of a new location.

I don't know if Exiled represents a turning point for To as a filmmaker. It could easily be the end of one era, or it could be just another example of what he does best - Hong Kong cri-fi. If it is a closing of sorts, it is a damn fine one - a wonderful swan song for a group of filmmakers who have honed this kind of genre film making to its most pure and perfect form. Although, Exiled could also represent a new beginning - the start of something new - because even though it is full of homage and familiar archetypes, tropes and scenarios, it is executed with such visual flare and skill that it all feels fresh and vital; the film represents a huge evolutionary jump for To as a director. One thing is for certain though - Johnny To is on a role, his career has never looked better: he has owned the last five years of HK genre cinema. Beginning with PTU, and continuing through Running on Karma, Throwdown, Breaking News, Election 1 and 2, and now Exiled, Johnny To has proven himself to be the most vital and important filmmaker working in Hong Kong.

But there has been one consistent director who has stuck to his guns -- Johnnie To. Sure, in his other guise as a producer he's had a hand in such fluff as Love on a Diet. But as a director, one can always count on To's films to give you the quirky, thoughtful, funny, and violent experiences that only pictures from Hong Kong can truly deliver. And Exiled is his finest work ever.

That is high praise indeed, since To has created several undeniable classics in the genre, most notably 1999's The Mission. In many ways, Exiled parallels that movie. But don't think this is a Wong Jing-esque vulturing of one's own work. Exiled shines completely on its' own, and stands head and shoulders above any other movie -- from anywhere in the world -- released in 2006.

I'm not going to get into the plot details here, since one of the joys of Exiled is seeing how the movie develops. Sure, it's not the most original story in the world, and there are a couple of fairly obvious plot twists. But To lets the film develop so organically that things never seem forced on the viewer, which is so refeshing in this time, when far too many film-makers seem insistent to jamming scenes that just scream "plot twist" down viewers' throats.

Exiled also showcases To's masterful use of mise-en-scene. Every part of every shot, down to the smallest detail, seems necessary. Forgoing the bloated nature of many recent Hong Kong films, To creates a lean look and feel to the film that is still gorgeous, thanks to stunning cinematography, crisp editing, and a soaring soundtrack.

But quite possibly, the greatest part of Exiled -- as you might expect from To's previous films -- is the acting. What the hell did Johnnie To put in Anthony Wong's kool-aid to bring out his performance? Whatever To did, it worked wonders not only with the notoriously fickle Wong, but every single actor on the set.

Simon Yam is outstanding as the film's villain, Francis Ng becomes the epitome of "bad-ass", and even Nick Cheung manages to turn in second good performance within a year. One is only left to wonder what To could have done with his former mainstay Lau Ching-Wan, who has seemingly left the realm of crime dramas for more audience-friendly work.

At any rate, simply put, Exiled is a movie that you must see if you consider yourself a fan of Hong Kong films. The industry might be for most intents and purposes be on life-support these days, but as long as HK film-makers can keep creating pictures of this caliber, it will keep kicking.

Four assassins (Anthony Wong, Francis Ng, Roy Cheung and Lam Suet) are out to erase Wo (Nick Cheung) as per Boss Fay's (Simon Yam) request. Choosing to give their brother Wo a chance to help along in claiming some extra rewards from Macao and for his family before the handover, the killers make the mistake of favouring brotherhood over loyalty towards the big boss. This triggers bloodshed...

Certainly echoing ideas of loyalty over objectives as seen in The Mission, that of course isn't strictly unique for To's 1999 classic but are characteristics of multiple genres. Male bonding, brotherhood, loyalty...all written in blood is the name of the tune here in combination with Johnnie's rightly touted skill for injecting wild, off-beat touches that logically have no place yet do play into the mentioned themes in a very crucial manner. Hong Kong cinema has not acted logically through the years in this regard but a seasoned pro like To gleefully breaks the rules of cinema for his own enjoyment and for the portrayal of brotherhood. Have we heard this tune way too many times already as Milkyway's 10+ history has performed plentiful of these shenanigans already? Logically the answer would be yes but truthfully, a big balls grabbing no should be heard.

What's admirable about To is that he never ever smoothly invited any viewer into his particular way of working cinema. It was always there to be taken, accepted or despised and Exiled is no different. Moving through its Western movie esthetics, from gunplay and to silliness such as the hitmen furnishing an apartment in order to have a sit down with their designated target Brother Wo, if you are into reality, tear your ticket now. If you're into out of place/thematically sound oddities from a bit of a master of deadpan behaviour, you're in luck and To continues to drive his train this way.

Mixing its moods freely in an absorbing way, the foursome will go on some fairly grand adventures through the Macau setting, a place devoid of most real people (basically one bumbling cop is still left, Hui Siu-Hung's character, but he's just waiting for the handover deadline as it's no use fighting crime anymore), the symbolism connected to the real atmosphere of Macao of its time is partly there for entertainment value and partly speaks of the lawlessness of a place in transition towards an uncertain future (as are our main characters, being EXILED. Get it?). The land is a grab bag but one where tuned character traits within the gangster world still has a place.

While To never makes any notion mentioned truly surprising, the journey taken is thoroughly great because he has the finger on the pulse of style. Choosing to go all out prolonged a la The Mission in his buildups, injecting bonding via coin flips and general abusive, lighthearted male behaviour amongst themselves, when bullets do fly, he has changed his tac since 1999 slightly by being quite extensively acrobatic in the creation of the gunplay. In slow motion, amongst bloodshed and flowing curtains, To goes overhead, messy and cool on us while still never forgetting his goal to break rules and moods whenever he feels like it. A laugh is never far away, emotions consciously never really injected because this isn't meant to be heartfelt cinema. It's male stuff, even though the role of a woman and newly created life marks a twist in the otherwise stoic frame.

Re-uniting the coolest cast on earth, not much is said about the characters of Anthony Wong, Francis Ng, Roy Cheung and Lam Suet but they are a terrific foursome of destruction and mentioned, clichéd gangster movie traits sprinkled about the place the To-way. To likes his profiles, his actors to appear lit only partially but there's no better way then than to cast distinct ones to get that intention through. Anthony and Francis dominate in similar manner to The Mission, with Wong playing the more divided character of the two. Saying little, building on depth through dead looks, expressions, acts and emotions, his immersing act flanked by Ng's loud-mouthed, 110% loyal blood brother is an outstanding centerpiece to Exiled. With the automatic watchmen in the form of Roy Cheung and Lam Suet's characters, they're perfect actors to be molded by To for whatever excursion, stylistically or thematically, he takes them on. Simon Yam gives us his best flamboyance and over the top big boss behaviour, a performer able to rely on cool presence as well. Josie Ho has a challenge to actually get noticed here but representing a surprise story element, she comes through with an in-tune performance, not being part of the usual atmosphere and To's usual direction. What comes out is a fresh dimension to the cinema of Johnnie To.

Give him a couple of statuettes and Johnnie To won't be either discouraged or encouraged. He's single handedly making way for Hong Kong cinema internationally but via his own ways and rules. His best art has never been about letting everyone accept the wildness of it but enough do for him in order to plow a unique path that always represented a continuation of John Woo's or even Chang Cheh's influence but also something those men never had in mind to bring. Speaking fairly well of political themes, characters but mostly creating Exiled as an excuse to enhance distinctly respectable traits of gangsters in an off-beat fashion, we say we're pleased once more and please come again, Mr. To.