So Close (2002)
"Chik yeung tin si" (original title)

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.

Director:

Corey Yuen

Writer:

Jeffrey Lau

Stars:

Qi Shu, Wei Zhao, Karen Mok

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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
Deric Wan	...	Chow Nunn (as Siu-Lun Wan)
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

Storyline

The brothers Chow Nunn and Chow Lui's giant computer company is facing a tense crisis - a powerful computer virus is rapidly wiping out their computer network. At the last minute a cyber-friend arrives to join the battle. The mysterious 'Angel.com' battles the virus and saves the company. Invited by Chow Lui for a visit in person, Angel.com arrives in the form of the beautiful Lynn. But it turns out Lynn is a professional assassin with amazing high-tech and kung fu skills. She kills Chow Lui with cyanide hidden in a pair of sunglasses. She's aided by her sister Sue, who operates the pair's World Panorama surveillance system, which allows them to tap into any video security system in the world. Young cop Kong Yat Hong and her partner Mark are put on the case. Hong has a brilliant mind and immediately senses she's dealing with a killer with very special skills. Realizing they are facing a tough adversary, Lynn and Sue become fascinated with Hong as well. Lynn runs into Yan, the cousin ...

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Plot Keywords:

computer | professional assassin | death | escape | investigation | 

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Taglines:

Looks can be deceiving.

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Genres:

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

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for pervasive violence and a sexual conversation

Details

Official Sites:

A.D.2, Inc. [us]

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Mandarin Cantonese English

Release Date:

12 September 2002 (Singapore)

Also Known As:

So Close

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$31,702 (USA) (12 September 2003)

Gross:

$31,702 (USA) (12 September 2003)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Film Production Asia, Eastern Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min 106 min (dvd release)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

Hong is accused of having concrete evidence supporting her apparent murder of Lynn - yet she had a solid alibi chasing Sue with other cops. The evidence is obviously barely circumstantial - a strand of hair and a necklace planted at the scene. Forensics would have picked this up and Hong's fellow officers would have confirmed her alibi. There was absolutely no reason to believe that Hong killed Lynn.

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Quotes

Sue: [subtitled version] Don't forget the cake and candies I ordered from the Orchid Bakery.

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Connections

Referenced in To Each His Own Cinema (2007)

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Soundtracks

"They Long To Be (Close To You)"
Written by Burt Bacharch
Performed by Corrine May
Courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment (Taiwan) Ltd.

User Reviews

SO CLOSE - grand new update of girls-guns-and-kung fu

SO CLOSE (2002) is a high-tech action adventure from Hong Kong that revives the girls-guns-and-kung fu genre that once attracted fans to HK cinema from all over the world. This one is an update by director Corey Yuen of exactly the kind of films he used to make back in the day like YES, MADAM! (1985), with Michelle Yeoh and Cynthia Rothrock, RIGHTING WRONGS (1986), with Rothrock, and SHE SHOOTS STRAIGHT (1990), with Joyce Godenzi and Carina Lau.

SO CLOSE is a little more pumped-up, with more beautiful female stars, more CGI and wire work, and a high tech veneer that permeates every aspect of the characters' lives. There are three main characters--all female and all played by top Hong Kong stars--Shu Qi (THE TRANSPORTER), Vicki Zhao Wei (SHAOLIN SOCCER), Karen Mok (BLACK MASK). The first two are absolutely stunning while Karen Mok opts for a no-nonsense, scrubbed-down, ready-for-action policewoman look--which is still damned attractive. The women get a lot to do here and are seen frequently in close-up. What more can fans of these actresses ask? Well, there is more. They also create strong, confident, vulnerable, emotionally-charged characters who interact a lot with each other. Shu Qi and Vicki play sisters, Lin and Sue, who hire out as a high-tech hit team to go after high-profile corporate criminal types. Karen plays the policewoman who takes it upon herself to go after the sisters, but also bonds with them and even offers a significant helping hand at one point.

That's pretty much all the plot you need to know, although there are plenty of subplots, including a burgeoning romance between Lin and a young man she once knew who's come back into her life. There are abundant flashbacks, achieved largely through digital video home movies, showing the two sisters as young girls playing with their parents, whose brutal murders (also seen in flashback) were engineered to steal the father's invention of World Panorama, a surveillance system with unlimited capacity. These murders propel the girls into their lives of crime--nd vengeance.

The high-tech aspects are particularly clever and imaginative. The sisters each carry a watch that can pretty much do everything (cell phone, surveillance camera, computer, detonator, etc.). At one point Sue is in a car chase through the streets of Hong Kong and dials Lin on her headset for help. Lin uses a surveillance satellite to track Sue and keep her away from the pursuing police cars, all while she herself is using two automatic pistols to ward off a raid on her house by a team of assassins. Later, during the final raid, the two opposing sides use different tricks to fool the other side with manipulated surveillance camera coverage.

Do the action scenes deliver? Yes, they do. Granted, the actresses are not fighters and have to rely on stunt doubles, quick cuts and wire work, but they pull it off (certainly better than the girls in the CHARLIE'S ANGELS films do). Is the action far-fetched? Yes, but it will have you smiling and cheering, not groaning. These girls are the good guys and you care about them and want them to triumph.

Kung fu fans will welcome the presence of Yasuaki Kurata as one of the villains. This Japanese star has been in Hong Kong films for over 30 years (including SHAOLIN CHALLENGES NINJA and FIST OF LEGEND) and he's still going strong.

The film is best appreciated in its Mandarin-language version, in which you get to hear Shu Qi and Vicki speaking in sync-sound in their own voices.