So Close
Y
May 8, 2003
Screened San Francisco International Film Festival
American fans of Hong Kong action movies will probably flock to director Cory Yuen's latest opus, a "Charlie's Angels" sort of film. But the surprising lack of humor in "So Close," and long, trying stretches between combat sequences aren't likely to attract new converts to the genre.
As a film director, Yuen -- best known for his fight choreography and work with Jet Li in such U.S. films as "Lethal Weapon 4," "Kiss of the Dragon" and "Romeo Must Die" and such Hong Kong movies as "The Bodyguard From Beijing" and "Meltdown" -- isn't much on character development. And he muddles what little romance his movies contain. In "So Close," the awkward script by Jeff Lau (also a veteran Hong Kong writer-director) doesn't help much, with its heavy-handed exposition and clumsy motivations.
The film opens flashily enough: The computer systems at a huge company begin crashing due to a virus. The seemingly inevitable disaster is averted by an outside hacker identified only as "Angel.com."
Lynn (the stunning Shu Qi), reveals herself as the firm's saving grace and arrives for an appointment with the chairman, Chow Lui. But Lynn is an assassin, not a savior, and Lui meets his end in a phantasmagoric, crowd-pleasing scene, set to the Bacharach/David song "Close to You."
Lynn is aided in her task by her spunky younger sister Sue (Zhao Wei, also gorgeous) sitting at home on the computer and monitoring her sister's progress via "World Panorama," a software package that can access any security camera in the world. World Panorama was created by the girls' father, and he and his wife were assassinated for it when the girls were young.
Lui's death attracts the attention of crack detective Kong Yat Hong (Karen Mok). The girls are hired for another job soon after, but it's a double-cross meant to eliminate both them and the intrepid Kong.
This is all nonsense, of course, which wouldn't be a problem as long as the film kept the energy and humor going. But it doesn't. A romance between Lynn and a boy from the past provides no heat; he's a good-looking nonentity. Even the hint of a lesbian attraction between Kong and Sue fails to excite. At the festival's midnight viewing, the biggest laugh came after the incomprehensible explanation of the sisters' genesis as assassins, when an audience member loudly exclaimed, "What?" The only real wit occurs in the duel sequences: Lynn whipping her hair to temporarily blind an opponent or anchoring herself to the ceiling after a furious kick due to a device in her stiletto heel.
Yuen and his cinematographer Keung Kwok Man give the film a sleek, industrial look, mainly utilizing whites, grays and hazy fluorescent lighting. Then there's the occasional burst of red: blood, lipstick or a single rose. The special effects have a two-dimensional look to them, which adds to the cartoonish atmosphere in the combat encounters but loses the audience in a rather dull car chase.
Director McG brought a cheeky irreverence to "Charlie's Angels" and kept it short. The 112 minutes of "So Close" lag and chug, despite Yuen's deft fight choreography.
SO CLOSE
Columbia Pictures Film Production Asia
Eastern (HK) Film Production Co., Ltd.
Credits:
Director: Cory Yuen
Screenwriter: Jeff Lau
Producer: Chui Po Chu
Director of photography: Keung Kwok Man
Production designer: Eddy Wong
Music: Sam Kao, Kenji Tan
Costume designer: Yee Chung-Man
Editor: Chung Ka -Fai
Cast:
Lynn: Shu Qi
Sue: Zhao Wei
Kong: Karen Mok
Yan: Seoung-Heon Song
Mark: Michael Wei
Running time -- 112 minutes
No MPAA rating
American fans of Hong Kong action movies will probably flock to director Cory Yuen's latest opus, a "Charlie's Angels" sort of film. But the surprising lack of humor in "So Close," and long, trying stretches between combat sequences aren't likely to attract new converts to the genre.
As a film director, Yuen -- best known for his fight choreography and work with Jet Li in such U.S. films as "Lethal Weapon 4," "Kiss of the Dragon" and "Romeo Must Die" and such Hong Kong movies as "The Bodyguard From Beijing" and "Meltdown" -- isn't much on character development. And he muddles what little romance his movies contain. In "So Close," the awkward script by Jeff Lau (also a veteran Hong Kong writer-director) doesn't help much, with its heavy-handed exposition and clumsy motivations.
The film opens flashily enough: The computer systems at a huge company begin crashing due to a virus. The seemingly inevitable disaster is averted by an outside hacker identified only as "Angel.com."
Lynn (the stunning Shu Qi), reveals herself as the firm's saving grace and arrives for an appointment with the chairman, Chow Lui. But Lynn is an assassin, not a savior, and Lui meets his end in a phantasmagoric, crowd-pleasing scene, set to the Bacharach/David song "Close to You."
Lynn is aided in her task by her spunky younger sister Sue (Zhao Wei, also gorgeous) sitting at home on the computer and monitoring her sister's progress via "World Panorama," a software package that can access any security camera in the world. World Panorama was created by the girls' father, and he and his wife were assassinated for it when the girls were young.
Lui's death attracts the attention of crack detective Kong Yat Hong (Karen Mok). The girls are hired for another job soon after, but it's a double-cross meant to eliminate both them and the intrepid Kong.
This is all nonsense, of course, which wouldn't be a problem as long as the film kept the energy and humor going. But it doesn't. A romance between Lynn and a boy from the past provides no heat; he's a good-looking nonentity. Even the hint of a lesbian attraction between Kong and Sue fails to excite. At the festival's midnight viewing, the biggest laugh came after the incomprehensible explanation of the sisters' genesis as assassins, when an audience member loudly exclaimed, "What?" The only real wit occurs in the duel sequences: Lynn whipping her hair to temporarily blind an opponent or anchoring herself to the ceiling after a furious kick due to a device in her stiletto heel.
Yuen and his cinematographer Keung Kwok Man give the film a sleek, industrial look, mainly utilizing whites, grays and hazy fluorescent lighting. Then there's the occasional burst of red: blood, lipstick or a single rose. The special effects have a two-dimensional look to them, which adds to the cartoonish atmosphere in the combat encounters but loses the audience in a rather dull car chase.
Director McG brought a cheeky irreverence to "Charlie's Angels" and kept it short. The 112 minutes of "So Close" lag and chug, despite Yuen's deft fight choreography.
SO CLOSE
Columbia Pictures Film Production Asia
Eastern (HK) Film Production Co., Ltd.
Credits:
Director: Cory Yuen
Screenwriter: Jeff Lau
Producer: Chui Po Chu
Director of photography: Keung Kwok Man
Production designer: Eddy Wong
Music: Sam Kao, Kenji Tan
Costume designer: Yee Chung-Man
Editor: Chung Ka -Fai
Cast:
Lynn: Shu Qi
Sue: Zhao Wei
Kong: Karen Mok
Yan: Seoung-Heon Song
Mark: Michael Wei
Running time -- 112 minutes
No MPAA rating
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