no movie has been better christened by genre: hong kong blood opera. john woo's percussive gunplay composes of movement: physical and musical, a ballroom dance with its own band, chambered in 9 mm. how many ballerinas? a duo, a trio, or an ensemble.

the stage explodes in familiar polite scenarios that require a particular etiquette (e.g. on public transit, enjoying tea with a friend, at the hospital, at easter mass). our heroes stand-off parrying with pleasantries and pistols. they maintain their social graces and uphold their martial codes plucking the strings of the boundaries between the law and the underworld.

sublime alchemic welding of the phrases: "quick-draw" and "double-cross" as if you could press a loaded magazine into a crucifix and fire it

chow yun-fat waltzes with danny lee. john woo beckons a congregation to his new faith, "I have turned chow yun fat into a god and have put a devil aside for him"