It's difficult to believe how many things this movie wants to be (art, surrealism, action, drama, suspense, romance, comedy) and how many of them it successfully manages to be. This movie is close to absolute greatness, but falls only slightly short because of a somewhat weak ending.

Andy Lau and mainlander Rene Liu play high-end thieves (and lovers), and face off against another, larger, and similarly talented bunch of thieves on a long haul train. Both groups are targeting a naive young villager carrying a large amount of cash. Think of two packs of wolves vying for the same flock of sheep...and indeed similar imagery is used in the film.

The creative ways in which these two face off, the intensity, the tension, the uncertainly, make for an absolute roller coaster ride right up to the very end of the movie. And right up to the very end the plot twists so many times that literally anything could happen.

The cocksure and stylized performance by Andy Lau is almost tailor made for him. He's perfect for this role. And while the performance by Rene Liu is solid, although not outstanding, Ge You and most especially Lee Bing Bing's performances are terrific.

One fewer twists in the plot near the films climax, and a slightly better ending would rank this among the top suspense films this reviewer has ever seen. Nonetheless this is a superlative film.