Banished

Banished contains many well-shot and well-edited sequences (the kung-fu ones in particular), and one can certainly tell that it took a long time and effort to put it together. Overall, I think it's an interesting post-modern homage to a certain type of cinema—it's not difficult to trace Tarantino's influence behind the characters, the atmospheres, the usage of slow motion, and the editing. It is the touch of irony that's added to the most bold technical choices what makes the film enjoyable. A film critic would probably lambaste the excessive usage of soft focus and high key lighting in the opening sequence, the redundant usage of close-ups of objects, statues, and glasses of whiskey, and the plethora of clichés about gangsters and their women that's disseminated throughout the film. However, I think they are laid out in an amusing way, showing that it didn't intend to take itself too seriously.