Chik yeung tin si (2002)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Corey Yuen

Writer:

Jeffrey Lau (writer)

Release Date:

12 September 2002 (Singapore)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Crime | Drama | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

Looks can be deceiving.

Plot:

A conflict of interest between two high-kicking assassin sisters is complicated as they're pursued by the criminals who hired them and an equally high-kicking female cop.

Plot Keywords:

Computer | Professional Assassin | Death | Cyanide | Computer Virus

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Qi Shu	...	Lynn
Wei Zhao	...	Sue
Karen Mok	...	Hong Yat Hong
Seung-heon Song	...	Yen (as Song Seung Hun)
Yasuaki Kurata	...	Master
Derek Wan	...	Master
Michael Wai	...	Ma Siu Ma
Siu-Lun Wan	...	Chow Nunn
Sau Sek	...	Chow Lui
Ki Yan Lam	...	Alice
Josie Ho	...	Ching (as Josephine Ho)
Sheung Mo Lam	...	Lai Kai-joe
May Kwong	...	May
Henry Fong	...	Dad (as Fong Ping)
Hee Ching Paw	...	Mom

Also Known As:

So Close (International: English title)
Virtual Twilight (Hong Kong: English title) (working title)
Xi yang tian shi (Hong Kong: Mandarin title)

MPAA:

Rated R for pervasive violence and a sexual conversation.

Runtime:

UK:110 min | Poland:106 min (dvd release) | Argentina:111 min

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Mandarin | Cantonese | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Indonesia:Dewasa (DVD rating) | Argentina:13 | Iceland:16 | South Korea:15 | Philippines:R-18 | Finland:K-15 | Australia:MA | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Poland:15 (DVD rating) | Singapore:PG | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Company:

Columbia Pictures Film Production Asia

Goofs:

Continuity: Throughout the movie's fighting scenes Sue's boots keep changing from high-heeled to low-heels and back again.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Chacun son cinéma ou Ce petit coup au coeur quand la lumière s'éteint et que le film commence (2007)

And yet so far.

This could have been awesome. And at times, it gets there. This is basically a Hong-Kong Charlie's Angels. Usually I avoid making statements like this, but it's hard not to since Charlie's Angels does seem to be a major point of reference. It is based around two young, attractive women with an expanse of gadgetry at there disposal, whose work gets in the way of their love life and who get to kick major ass. The only difference is that the women are hired assassins, rather than hired crime fighters. The film makers seem to openly acknowledge where they stole their ideas from, giving Lynn's character the codename of 'The Computer Angel'.

The plot is non-sensical, the script wooden and the characters basically huge cardboard cut-outs. But then, this is a Hong-Kong action movie after all, and the plot is really just an vague structure to link together the visually arresting action sequences. And the action sequences, on a whole, are very well executed. At times they stretch too far. They try and acheive the visual trickery of Charlie's Angels, The Matrix, Crouching Tiger et all, but, due to the smaller budget, don't always pull it off sucsessfully.

The idea of women rolling about in t-shirts and tiny shorts by day, and kicking ass by night, is either hugely empowering or deeply degrading to women everywhere, depending on which side of the fence you are on. And the plot development of the criminal and the police officer earning new respect for each other by joining forces seems to be the blueprint for all H-K action flicks.

At the end of the day, if you like your movies big, dumb and action packed, this is really good fun. It's just been done a lot better. The film does get one superlative though, gaining the title of "most blatant product placement ever".