Johnny To’s wistful effort wins points playing contemporary with the Western format. He’s reunited his cast from 1999’s The Mission, with Nick Cheung as a former gangster who is pursued to his new home in Portugal by old colleagues. To brings in a Morricone-style soundtrack but goes slightly overboard on the sour-faced Eastwood misery.
Some beautifully choreographed fight sequences emphasise his control over the format but it’s let down by the tone, which couldn’t be more self-consciously downbeat if you set it to a Smiths soundtrack. It just doesn’t have sufficient reason to end in a high-octane romp that goes for style over substance but doesn’t deliver on either.