Softwing Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

pointyfilippa The movie runs out of plot and jokes well before the end of a two-hour running time, long for a light comedy.

Mischa Redfern I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Kodie Bird True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

dbborroughs Police officer Simon Yam is assigned to the statement desk one afternoon. A man is brought in for peeping on women in the ladies room. During the course of the interview the man says that he wasn't peeping on the women but trying to get evidence of a grand conspiracy being perpetrated by a large number of women with the aim of killing off the male sex. The cop thinks nothing of it until the man shows up later that night and retracts his story, insisting that what he said before was a mistake and that he really was peeping. Yam is confused because there was something about the retraction that didn't add up. Despite being warned off (the man after all is nuts) Yam begins to investigate and finds that maybe women are out to get men.Dark comedic film works for a while before running out of steam. Its good, but the problem is that once things are set up then set in motion there aren't a great many surprises. Certainly the film is often slyly funny, and it does generate a good amount of tension and unease but it kind of disappoints. Its a good idea that I don't think completely has enough to fully fill its 90 minute running time.I do have to say that the cast is first rate and is a joy to watch in action. Also a joy is the wonderful non sequitur seeming opening of guys in scuba gear assaulting a man in a hall way.Would I recommend the film? Sure,its off beat enough that its worth giving it a try, but only if it was a rental or on cable or something like that. I wouldn't pay full price for a ticket to see it in a theater.

Onderhond The movie industry in Hong Kong has been centered around genre films fitting a specific mold for years. Action flicks, comedies and martial arts spectacles are what HK cinema is all about. Finding interesting work outside of these genre clichés is not an easy job, so when I came across Ho-Cheung Pang a couple of years ago, I was hooked.Exodus is his sixth film and one that is without a doubt a valuable and interesting addition to his body of work.Ho-Cheung Pang is known for decorating his comedies with a darker edge. Something that is an absolute rarity in Hong Kong cinema, setting it aside from hundreds of fluffy HK comedies. But Pang is more than a comedy director. His films are littered with references to classic directors and classic films. And he has a very keen eye for colors and angles. While his earlier efforts were fun to watch, it's only with Isabella that he took a swing at a true masterpiece. With Exodus, Pang proves it was more than a lucky shot, by blending the atmosphere and skills seen in Isabella with the wit and humor of his earlier films.Exodus is pretty weird, but the key to the film is already hidden in the first scene. While slowly panning back from an Elisabeth II painting, we see a couple of frogmen beating up a criminal in a police station hallway, set to a soothing classical score. One of the most effective opening scenes I've ever seen, blending the themes and capturing the atmosphere of the entire film.Exodus is a slow, understated film, both in narration, humor, acting and visualization. The camera is pretty static or slowly pans across scenes. The film is pretty lush as Pang paid a lot of attention to the use of color and the framing, but people expecting to see an exciting HK police drama are probably at the wrong address. Complementing the stylish visuals is a subdued soundtrack composed of classical piano pieces, slowing down the pace even more.The film stars Simon Yam, old veteran and classy actor in a role that suits him well. He lays down a great understated role, showing little emotion and taking things as they come along. Still, at the end of the film I wondered if a guy like Anthony Wong wouldn't have made it just that little bit better. Still, Yam's performance works wonders and doesn't miss it's effect.But the thing that makes Exodus stand out is the combination of the subdued atmosphere and its nutcase storyline. Exodus is completely nonsensical, sending Yam after a case where women conspire in toilet rooms to kill men. The apparent seriousness with which the theme is handled just begs for laughs, a feeling that is only enhanced in it's final 10 minutes. It's easy to miss the humor, or simply be put off by the whole setup, but I found it quite refreshing and simply lots of fun.Ho-Cheung Pang is a director I'll keep following closely as he's able to keep his work refreshing. Exodus is a hard film to recommend as you should like the art-house aesthetics and you're required to pick up on the humor, if not this film is probably a serious drag. But if you do, it will be a worthwhile experience, guaranteed. 4.0*/5.0*

Lee Alon Let's skip the formalities and build up, Exodus is a capable addition to Hong Kong's minimal catalogue of conspiratorial psychedelia, and even though it also stars Simon Yam, it actually gets the job done very well, unlike his bigger release from last year, Eye in the Sky.Yam returns to his cop roots for another foray, but here we have one of the city's more recognizable actors in a decidedly indie release that's not very well known and has been given none of the limelight treatment many lesser releases have received.Exodus is a tense, paranoid affair with an undercurrent of madness that's very subtle. There's nothing overwhelming about the story or action, but after watching the whole thing you'll have to reflect and conclude it was well worth the time and effort.So, we have Simon Yam as a cop again. Sure, but not the glamorous type he's done in many instances in the past, but rather a regular beat walker of twenty years, with apparently no ambition and even less sympathy from his superiors. This Sgt. Tsim happens to be married to a wealthy young woman (Annie Liu from Ah Sou), complete with a mother in law that's quite the nag, going on and on about how a real man should have his own business, etc.Tsim (full name Tsim Kin-Yip, which probably has more than one meaning if you ask the filmmakers) is posted to suburban Tai Po, an area that offers several interestingly desolate and rundown location opportunities. One evening, or night, Tsim takes over a deposition from another cop, only to realize he's happened on a corker: alleged sex maniac Kwan Ping Man (excellent Nick Cheung) was arrested for some peeping tom action, but claims to be investigating a wide conspiracy by women to kill all men.As ludicrous as this may sound, Tsim immediately warms to the notion, and begins to look into matters. He also starts to notice a variety of clues and other suspicious occurrences around him, a gradual process the movie does very well. There's almost no drama – Exodus is about subtlety, and this it achieves marvelously. The transition into paranoia and conspiracy-spotting is seamless.I won't spoil it for you, but there are a few minor surprises along the way. The main thing here is the viable mood and very flowing storytelling that Exodus pulls off. It's a rarity in Hong Kong these days, and in fact has always been: for the surreal, one always had to turn to the mainland or Taiwan, HK has always been almost entirely about the fast and the cashious, even in its movies. But when this one opens and what you get are a bunch of barely-clothed guys beating up a hapless victim with hammers while wearing goggles and snorkels, well, you can't help but nod the nod of warm acceptance.Plus, we also have the long-awaited return of leggy actress Irene Wan, who's on board and carries out her duties well.Director Edmond Pang (credited as Pang Ho-Cheung) has delivered the goods, making sure the film features a multitude of elements to ensure multiple viewings become warranted: for example, this reviewer would like to know why there's so much eating going on in Exodus? Seriously, of its ninety minutes, at least ten are spent taking in food.Go figure it out – it'll be rewarding.

Coolestmovies The opening shot, a slow, meticulous dolly backwards down a hallway, says it all. It begins with a tight closeup of a pair of alluring female eyes in a photograph. The subject of the portrait is revealed to be Queen Elizabeth II, and beneath it stand two men in swim trunks, goggles and flippers who light up smokes and casually redirect a Hong Kong police officer who has unwittingly entered the doorway at screen left. These must be cops, and as the frame continues to open up, we notice two, then three, then four more of these "frogmen" beating a suspect with mallets and phone books as he struggles violently to flee. "All the hatred of this world are caused by men," claims one of the film's female characters, but as evidenced by this gorgeous opening shot, much of it happens under the watchful eye of condoning women, and in pondering the question of why the female almost always outlives the male, as well as what they talk about when they go to the ladies' room together, writer-director Edmond Pang, along with co-writers Cheuk-Wan-chi and Jimmy Wan Chi- man, have crafted a sleek black comedy that, strangely, doesn't manifest most of its inherent dark whimsy until well into the final reel. Nagged by a condescending mother-in-law who only sees value in a man who runs his own business, and long ago demoted to a desk job as a reward for interdepartmental whistle-blowing, bored and complacent police sergeant SImon Yam begrudges a favor to a fellow officer and agrees to take a statement from a peeping Tom (Nick Cheung), who foams profanely about a top-secret organization of women plotting the elimination of the male species, one unsuspecting rube at a time. Yam thinks little of it, until the report disappears from the evidence room and the suspect one-eighties his story after a visit from a smarmy female senior officer. Eager to learn why such a patently ludicrous story would need to be hushed up, he soon comes to the realization that Cheung was telling the truth! Artfully directed and photographed (by Charlie Lam Chi-kin) with an emphasis on static, contemplative frame compositions the seem to grow organically from the modernist architecture that dominates the locations, but the concept begs for a playfulness that the filmmakers seem to avoid until the last ten minutes of the picture. The build-up is played with such a straight face that sequences which all but confirm the existence of the assassination club pass with nary a raised eyebrow. Perhaps that was the point, but the shift in tone is nonetheless jarring. Yam underplays nicely throughout, as if his character knows all too well how ridiculous his mission might seem to those looking in. Fine music score by Gabriele Roberto features exceptional piano solos by Aiko Takai. 7.