Post by lovevicki on Jan 9, 2005 10:20:35 GMT 7
[glow=red,2,300]Seattle International Film Festival 2003[/glow]
SO CLOSE
Chik yeung tin sai
2002 - Hong Kong
Director: Corey Yuen
Starring: Shu Qi, Vicky Zhao, Karen Mok, Seung-heon Song, Michael Wei, Yasuaki Kurata, Ricardo Mamood
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- Reviewed by Linda
Geez, Louise, how HOT can one movie be? Take sexy women, dress them in sharp white suits and spiked heels, and give them loaded guns. Oh, and make them ASSASSINS and COMPUTER GENIUSES who can KICK ASS as well! Wait... make them SISTERS! Oh, and the cop on their tail? Make the cop a HOT WOMAN who is equally bad-ass AND has a bit of a CRUSH on one of the sisters! "GRATUITOUS!" you yell at the screen in delight... then burst into applause and hoots.
So Close follows said guns-for-hire sisters Lynn (Shu Qi) and Sue (Vicky Zhao), who inherited from their father some sort of fancy World Domination computer program that any government would love to get their paws on. Ever since dad was murdered for his invention, they been on a rampage of stickin' it to the Man, doing hit jobs on high-tech corporate sleepers for the highest bidder. Or something like that.
Anyway, Lynn, who always seem to have her own personal breeze blowing her hair back in slow motion, is tiring of her dirty work and wants out. It doesn't hurt that cutie-patootie Yen (ridiculously good-looking Seung-heon Song) comes back into her life and wants to settle down. "Honey, I knew you when you were sweet and pure when I first met you... and now you're a bad-ass assassin... but, um, could you, like, retire?"
Little sister Sue is pissed. How can Lynn break up their family business? What about their playful wrestling matches in the bathtub? What about the silly affectionate videos they leave for each other? What about feeding each other cake? Not only are things beginning to fall apart at home, but this new (HOT) cop Hong (Karen Mok) is right on their trail. Sue is determined to finish off their last job, even if she has to do it alone.
So much for plot. I mean, really... WHO CARES? Shu Qi is a model-esque siren, while Vicky Zhao blossoms from a freakin' adorable computer geek to a freakin' adorable kick-ass assassin. Karen Mok swaggers and pushes people around (you can tell her nerdy male assistant loves it), and seems more than a little interested in Sue beyond the cat-and-mouse relationship. She wants to TAKE HER DOWN, if you see what I'm sayin'. There are tons of fight scenes, choreographed with the classic gorgeous mind-bending, gravity-defying deftness in the best Hong Kong action tradition, and the movie is crisp and funny.
The only parts of the film that sort of clunk along are when the ubiquitous Hong Kong power-ballads swell in the soundtrack, and the characters look wistfully off into the distance, full of regret. Come on! Enough regret! Let's get back to the ass-kicking!
Other than that minor quip (and believe me, I have nothing else to complain about), So Close is a raucously entertaining action movie, and I, for one, can't wait to get the DVD.
SO CLOSE
Chik yeung tin sai
2002 - Hong Kong
Director: Corey Yuen
Starring: Shu Qi, Vicky Zhao, Karen Mok, Seung-heon Song, Michael Wei, Yasuaki Kurata, Ricardo Mamood
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Reviewed by Linda
Geez, Louise, how HOT can one movie be? Take sexy women, dress them in sharp white suits and spiked heels, and give them loaded guns. Oh, and make them ASSASSINS and COMPUTER GENIUSES who can KICK ASS as well! Wait... make them SISTERS! Oh, and the cop on their tail? Make the cop a HOT WOMAN who is equally bad-ass AND has a bit of a CRUSH on one of the sisters! "GRATUITOUS!" you yell at the screen in delight... then burst into applause and hoots.
So Close follows said guns-for-hire sisters Lynn (Shu Qi) and Sue (Vicky Zhao), who inherited from their father some sort of fancy World Domination computer program that any government would love to get their paws on. Ever since dad was murdered for his invention, they been on a rampage of stickin' it to the Man, doing hit jobs on high-tech corporate sleepers for the highest bidder. Or something like that.
Anyway, Lynn, who always seem to have her own personal breeze blowing her hair back in slow motion, is tiring of her dirty work and wants out. It doesn't hurt that cutie-patootie Yen (ridiculously good-looking Seung-heon Song) comes back into her life and wants to settle down. "Honey, I knew you when you were sweet and pure when I first met you... and now you're a bad-ass assassin... but, um, could you, like, retire?"
Little sister Sue is pissed. How can Lynn break up their family business? What about their playful wrestling matches in the bathtub? What about the silly affectionate videos they leave for each other? What about feeding each other cake? Not only are things beginning to fall apart at home, but this new (HOT) cop Hong (Karen Mok) is right on their trail. Sue is determined to finish off their last job, even if she has to do it alone.
So much for plot. I mean, really... WHO CARES? Shu Qi is a model-esque siren, while Vicky Zhao blossoms from a freakin' adorable computer geek to a freakin' adorable kick-ass assassin. Karen Mok swaggers and pushes people around (you can tell her nerdy male assistant loves it), and seems more than a little interested in Sue beyond the cat-and-mouse relationship. She wants to TAKE HER DOWN, if you see what I'm sayin'. There are tons of fight scenes, choreographed with the classic gorgeous mind-bending, gravity-defying deftness in the best Hong Kong action tradition, and the movie is crisp and funny.
The only parts of the film that sort of clunk along are when the ubiquitous Hong Kong power-ballads swell in the soundtrack, and the characters look wistfully off into the distance, full of regret. Come on! Enough regret! Let's get back to the ass-kicking!
Other than that minor quip (and believe me, I have nothing else to complain about), So Close is a raucously entertaining action movie, and I, for one, can't wait to get the DVD.
