Synopsis
Shu Qi and Zhao Wei are sisters who, after the murder of their parents, have become a top-of-the-line assassination-for-hire team, combining martial arts and weapons expertise with acomputer program that allows them to tap into any closed-circuit camera anywhere on Earth.Karen Wok is the tough-as-nails detective who is on their trail. All three women run afoul of acorrupt businessman who wants them dead.
The Charlie’s Angels can only wish they were thi… good. Though the fight scenesdon’t have the brutal conviction that one gets with, say, Michelle Yeoh, they are still excitingenough. The film is played straight, with none of the tired joking to drain the suspense. In fact,though the plot is ultimately familiar, it has enough built-in twists and a sense of playing forkeeps that not only do you honestly care for the heroines, you do not automatically assume thatany of them are going to make it through the film alive. Result: one of the most genuinelysuspenseful action flicks to come down the pike in a while, one with enough style to fuel sixothers.
Audio
The sound is very powerful, blasting out the speakers in a most satisfying manner. Thedialogue is clear and free of distortion. The surround sound effects are very strong (lots of boomand bang as guns are fired and glass shatters). Good left-right separation too. Less strong is theoverall sense of environment: there are many missed opportunities here, and the sense ismore of individual effects emerging from the rear speakers.
Video
The 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer boasts a terrific silver-steel look. The blacks aredeep, and there is (with minor exceptions) no grain or edge enhancement. The colours arevibrant, the image razor-sharp, and the film is almost as exciting to look at on a purely aestheticlevel as it is from the point of view of slam-bang action.
Special Features
The menu is basic, and the only extras are trailers for So Close, Big Shots’sFuneral, Black Mask 2: City of Masks, both Charlie’s Angels movies,Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Double Vision and Returner.
Closing Thoughts
If anyone associated with the Charlie’s Angels films takes it into their pointy headsto make another entry in the franchise, they should be forced at gunpoint, on pain of death, to sitdown, watch So Close, and see how to do it right.
Special Features List
- Trailers
