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SYNOPSIS:
While taking a statement from Kwan Ping-Man (Nick Cheung),
who is apprehended for peeping in a woman's restroom, Tsim
Kin Yip (Simon Yam) learns that a secret group of women are
out to kill men. When night falls, Tsim receives a call informing
him that the statement was missing. However, when Tsim takes
a statement from Kwan the second time, he pleads guilty instantly.
Tsim becomes suspicious and decides to investigate, only to
discover that his wife is also involved.
MOVIE REVIEW
The secret
syndicate of the femme fatales that systematically getting
rid of the male population for the belief that men are the
cause of all trouble. Sound absurd? The beauty of this movie,
much like the Japanese movie Battle Royale, utilizes the absurd
concept to reflect on the things that happening in reality.
In Exodus
case, the “absurdness” is used to exemplify the
common problem between a male and female relationship. It
shows some plausible causes and reasons of relationships going
sour while presenting a fair perspective for both sides.
For the
male perspective, it presented how when a guy is passionate
about certain issue, he could neglect the other half completely.
Although it might paint the insensitive side of the male species,
it does give valid reasons for guys to behave in such manner.
It also reveals the vulnerable side of a man and how he also
needs a listening ear for his trouble to share his trouble.
For the
female viewpoint, Exodus presented the vengeful nature of
female in an exaggerated manner but in a humorous way, it
effectively captures the reasons for their disappointment
and anger against male. It also sarcastic also implied how
woman could easily hide behind their crime with their frailty
and tears that made the whole idea of the female killers syndicate
even more plausible.
Both
perspectives are effectively presented by Simon Yam and Annie
Liu as a model couple with “trivial” problems
of their own. Both actors engage the viewers to follow the
trivial pursuits effortlessly with their charms and good looks.
They are well supported by a number of actors such as Maggie
Siu (as the potential head of the female killers syndicate),
the foul mouth suspected peeping tom who discover the syndicate
(Nick Cheung) and his ex wife (Irene Wan). Particularly the
appearance of both Simon Yam and Irene Wan in Exodus revokes
memories of their last performance together in a movie when
they were the main stars for the Hong Kong Category III movie,
"All of a Sudden".
There
are plenty of subtle moments littered all over Exodus that
are wickedly funny as it touches on the issues of relationship
blues. There are also some scenes that emit a different view
while re-watching it. It’s much like certain moments
in The Usual Suspects that a certain scene might show one
emotion during the first viewing and another during the repeated
viewing.
Exodus
is one of the best movies that received a straight to video
treatment in Singapore. Although Edmond Pang’s movies
seldom receive the mass popularity in theatrical runs locally,
his sense of dark humor and wittiness are often sharp and
accurate observations of things that happen in real life that
makes his film a notch better than other trashy film that’s
out from the same region. Give Exodus a try and if you like
it, chances are that you will like all other Edmond Pang’s
movies too.
SPECIAL
FEATURES :
NIL
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The
only good thing about this dvd is that it comes with the original
canto track.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD
RATING :
Review
by Richard Lim Jr
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