Hey folks, Valkor here. And I welcome you to TOV's "30 in 30", where I'll review 30 unique film and maybe some not so unique, all in 30 days. What's cool for most of the flicks, is that I know nothing about em. So this should be a real treat not just for you guys, but for me as well. Good or bad, this is gonna be a fun month. It all starts today July the 4th and ends on Aug the 3rd. Can I make it through? We'll know soon enough!
Next on my list is "Chik yeung tin si" or "So Close", an HK action flick directed by Corey Yuen, starring Shu Qi as Lynn who plays an assassin for hire. With the help of her sister Sue (Zhao Wei) who runs the command post, using their father's invention, the "World Panorama", which uses a satellite uplink to connect to any camera, among other advanced technology at their disposal. Their first job is to take down the owner of I.C.C.W, Chow Liu. They pull it off quite successfully, considering it was the two that tricked everyone at I.C.C.W into thinking the company's computers were infected by a virus, only to suddenly be saved by someone called "The Computer Angel". Lin takes down Chow Liu with ease and quickly and also very sexily makes her escape. Enter Officer Hung (Karen Mok), rookie cop to the force, she makes it her business to find out who the "Computer Angel" really is and bring her in. Ultimately the guys that hired Lynn and Sue have turned the tables and now the hunters have become the hunted. Towards the end, Lynn bites it and Hung is pegged as the killer. But sister Sue knows who did it and with the help of Hung, the two team up to not only clear Hung's name, but also get revenge.
Now I left out quite a bit of story such as the relationship between Yen (Song Seung Hun) and Lynn, the next contracted hit, and also the sequence leading up to Lynn's death. And there's a reason for that, because to go into it, well… it makes the film seem like it doesn't make much sense. And honestly, a lot that goes on in the film doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but we'll touch on that in the meat of the review. And speaking of which…
The Good:
As an action flick, I can appreciate this more so than "the Korean"; and it's not just action, but HOT action. Three of some Hong Kong's sexiest lead actresses take center stage and not only pull off some great acting, but sweet moves to go along with their look. Did I bust a nut? Yes I did. Will I watch the film again, but only select segments? Oh yea! Shu Qi, the hottie from Transporter shows us that she has some talent to match her sexy look. Karen Mok also won me over with her tough, gritty, and cigar smoking ways, also kicking a lot of ass and she's quite funny. But Zhao Wei definitely scores big in my book, more so than Shu Qi? Definitely, because she's just so damn cute and innocent; essentially, she's the kinda gal who you might not think much of at first, but over time looks better and better that you just have to take notice. The story is choppy, but still tolerable. The action is definitely high with loads of wire-fu and CGI to help enhance the scenes. But you won't care because you'll be too busy gasping and guffawing over the hotness of these three actresses.
The Bad:
My first problem is the length, which runs almost two hours (1hr and 50 min to be exact). After about an hour in, it felt like I've been watching it for 2. The pacing is another problem, as they fill in too much fluff and not enough of the story that needs to be told. For one, the Yen and Lynn relationship could have been taken out completely; it simply wasn't needed. If we're gonna focus on anything, why not how Lynn and Sue became assassins for hire anyway? Yea we get a brief taste of it, MUCH later in the story, but come on!
The Ugly:
That damn song "Close To You" resides in my brain and haunts my sleep!!
If you want hot, sexy, smokin women mixed in with your action movie, then I HIGHLY recommend "So Close". Sure it has it's faults, but it's definitely well worth watching, plus it makes a great title for when the bros come over. Out of TOV 5 stars, I give "So Close" 3.5 stars and it's been Valkor tested, TOV Approved!