Main Cast: Shu Qi, Zhao Wei, Karen Mok, Song Seung-heon, Michael Wei
Release Year: 2002
Country: HK/UK
Run Time: 110 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
A high tech corporation is sent into turmoil when hackers demanding ransom break into their internal computer system with a powerful and apparently unstoppable virus. A mysterious, beautiful young woman who calls herself "Computer Angel" quickly saves the business. But when she requests a meeting with the company's shady CEO, he gets more than he bargained for. Lynn (Shu Qi of The Transporter) turns out to be a highly skilled assassin, who knocks off the CEO with the help of her rambunctious younger sister Sue (Zhao Wei of Shaolin Soccer). Sue uses a powerful computer program developed by the girls' murdered father, which uses satellites to tap into closed-circuit security cameras, enabling her to see where all the cannon fodder/guards are and direct Lynn's escape, while taking over the security team's audio system to pipe in a cover of the Carpenters' "(They Long to Be) Close to You." But things soon get dicey for Lynn and Sue. A brilliant, sexy forensics expert, Hong (Karen Mok, who also sings the film's theme song), is hot on their trail, and the creeps who hired the girls decide to cover their tracks by killing them. Complicating matters further, Lynn reunites with an old flame and contemplates giving up the business and settling down, much to Sue's chagrin. So Close was filmed in Mandarin, necessitating (reportedly poor) dubbing into Cantonese for the Hong Kong release. The film was directed by Corey Yuen, who made his Hollywood debut with The Transporter. Before that, he was best known for his fight choreography on many of Jet Li's films. So Close was shown at the Subway Cinema's 2003 New York Asian Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
Review
So Close to Charlie's Angels, and yet so unique. In the world of cinema, turnabout is fair play. McG borrowed heavily from Hong Kong cinema to give Charlie's Angels added panache, and So Close comes off as a high-flying, energetic, candy-colored rip-off of McG's film. But the movie is so much fun to watch that one can simply ignore the lifted musical cues and excessive use of the word "angel" and enjoy it for its own pleasures. The plot is disposable, as these things go, but the three lead actresses succeed in creating distinctive and sympathetic characters. They're more than just eye candy. Karen Mok is particularly good as Hong, the maverick cop who develops a surprisingly flirtatious relationship with Sue (Zhao Wei), one of her targets. Mok has the perfect take-no-prisoners demeanor in the role. You can almost believe she could take out an elevator full of baddies between floors, and that brilliantly staged throwaway sequence is just one of the film's spectacular fight scenes. As his work with Jet Li attests, director Corey Yuen has skills only hinted at by his major studio debut, The Transporter. He brings these to bear in a big way with So Close. In the opening scene, Lynn (Shu Qi) uses her specially designed high-heeled boots to take on a whole building full of thugs. This elaborate set piece sets the film's tone of ludicrous, glossy, high-tech mayhem. And it just gets better, with an exciting car chase, which Lynn directs via satellite while fighting off an army of assassins, and the phenomenally choreographed climactic sword fight, which has Mok and Zhao teaming up to fight Yasuaki Kurata. The drama and romance aren't quite as interesting, but these action sequences alone make So Close worth watching. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
Ai Lin (Shu Qi) and her sister Ai Quan (Zhao Wei) are computer hackers and espionage specialists who use their late father's advanced secret satellite technology to give them the field advantage over their enemies and the local law enforcement. At the start of the movie they assassinate the chairman of a top Chinese company.
In the aftermath of their successful mission, an intelligent Police Detective named Kong Yat Hung (Karen Mok) is assigned to their case and is able to track them down. The cat-and-mouse chase becomes more complicated when Lin and Ai Quan become the targets of the very people who originally hired them.
As Ai Quan was always the assistant on their computer at home while Ai Lin, the older and better assassin, did the field work; this was met with jealousy from Ai Quan, who wanted to do field work. Ai Quan, not knowing that Ai Lin was merely trying to protect her, believed that Ai Lin forbade her to fight and kill because she was the less adept of the two. When Ai Lin fell in love and decided to give up her life as a contract killer to marry and live a "normal" life, argument rose between the sisters - Ai Quan wanted to continue contract killing to someday prove that she could become a killer as good as her older sister.
On the day of Yat Hung and Ai Lin's birthdays (coincidentally, the same day), Ai Quan is found by Yat Hung at a bakery buying cake, which leads to a frantic car chase. Ai Quan becomes cornered by police cars and seeks help from her older sister Ai Lin, who is at home. However, at the same time, killers hired by the man who originally hired the sisters make advances on the sisters' house and Ai Lin is killed while trying to save her younger sister Ai Quan. Yat Hung is framed for Lin's death. Left with no choice, Yat Hung teams up with Ai Quan to find Lin's true killer.
