IMDb RATING
6.6/10
8.3K
YOUR RATING
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.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.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
- Writer
- Stars
- Awards
- 1 nomination total
Song Seung-heon
- Yen
- (as Song Seung Hun)
Ricardo Mamood-Vega
- Peter
- (as Ricmamood)
Henry Fong
- Dad
- (as Fong Ping)
Tats Lau
- Secret King
- (as Lau Yee Tat)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Featured reviews
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".
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".
This movie demonstrates Hong Kong movie making at it's best. Martial arts, CG work and an engaging story. The fights scenes are flashy without being overdone and the quieter parts of the movie are not too long winded. The performances of the three leading ladies are well balanced however the supporting cast let the side down a little. All in all a good movie that demonstrates Hong Kong directors and producers ability to take the Hollywood recipe and re-mix it. How many Hollywood directors would put the Carpenter's song "Close to you" over a gun battle? Definitely one for the collection if only for the fight scenes, but watchable for the story as well.
I found this film wildly implausible but hugely entertaining. It's no masterpiece but surely an excellent piece of popcorn cinema from Hong Kong. The martial arts make the movie. Without these high-caliber stunts, the film wouldn't work. Some of these are cheesy and over the top. Yet they are performed with energy and I can see why this film is liked by fans of martial arts. The storyline sags a bit in the mid-section but makes up for it with a slightly overlong but exciting climax. Worth seeing if you are a fan of Hong Kong cinema or just enjoy martial arts.
Overall 7/10
Overall 7/10
While Shu Qi is, of course, exquisitely beautiful, her robotic acting quickly becomes boring and is not what makes So Close such a great action film. Thankfully, the film is primarily a female 'buddy' film, focussing on Shu Qi's kid sister co-bandit Vicki Zhao and Zhao's evolving relationship with policewoman Karen Mok. Zhao and Mok manage to infuse a standard HK action plot with emotion and complexity, and the film becomes "The Killer" meets "24 Hours." Great cinematography, great action, and loved the shots of Zhao biting her lip with tension and Mok mouthing words at Zhao. Could have done without two gratuitous flying scenes of Zhao near the end, though, which add a jarring CTHD note to the otherwise enjoyable action. But the final sword fight is magnificent. Zhao could become a great actress.
Despite the fact that this is a super-slick action thriller with guns, swords, cars and martial arts, So Close is a refreshing and unusual movie. It's NICE, to put it simply. Lovely girls, dressed in white much of the time, hanging around their picturesque house messing around and eating cakes and having baths. Despite all the asses they kick, they actually behave like young women and not ultra-agressive 'I-want-to-be-a-man' type female heroes, like Xena or Sarah Connor.
The action is sleek and graceful - feminine. It's also rather slow and lo-key compared to most films of this nature. The real action doesn't come until the climax, but when it does, director Corey Yuen pulls out all the stops, climaxing in a two-against-one sword fight that ranks alongside that of The Phantom Menace.
Despite how it's advertised, So Close is not a skinflick. The women are certainly not sex objects. They are sexy, but in a wholesome way. It's their natural beauty rather than their sex appeal that is most noticable.
So Close is a great movie, and should entertain any mainstream audience regardless of their farmiliarity of Asian films.
The action is sleek and graceful - feminine. It's also rather slow and lo-key compared to most films of this nature. The real action doesn't come until the climax, but when it does, director Corey Yuen pulls out all the stops, climaxing in a two-against-one sword fight that ranks alongside that of The Phantom Menace.
Despite how it's advertised, So Close is not a skinflick. The women are certainly not sex objects. They are sexy, but in a wholesome way. It's their natural beauty rather than their sex appeal that is most noticable.
So Close is a great movie, and should entertain any mainstream audience regardless of their farmiliarity of Asian films.
Did you know
- GoofsHong 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.
- Quotes
Hong Yat Hong: [subtitled version] A gun is like a bird. If you don't grab it tightly enough, it flies away. If you grab it too tightly, it will die.
- How long is So Close?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Languages
- Also known as
- Gác Kiếm
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $76,584
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $31,702
- Sep 14, 2003
- Gross worldwide
- $810,243
- Runtime1 hour 51 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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