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This is my first attempt at reviewing films.. And for the meantime, I will review the most recent film that I have seen well, not really, more of, the most recent film which caught my eye. It is So Close, a movie from the Hong Kong cinemas.

The movie revolves around two assassin sisters and one kick-butt woman cop. Linny is the elder sister, the one who performs most of the killings, while Sue(Zhao Wei) stays at home, working with a software her father developed to help Linny. This software is designed to tap at any security device at every building in the world. Her father originally wanted to give his invention to the cops but was killed for it. Later on, the sisters became assassins, killing criminals for other criminals for a living. They were very successful, not until a lady cop tackles their cases, detective Hong (Karen Wok).

You may find my summary very incomprehensive (that's why you should buy a DVD copy!). But my purpose here is to review the film.

I will start with the plot, and I would rate it to be quite outstanding, however, certain portions of the story may be quite under developed, like the character of Yen (Song Seong Hun), Linny's boyfriend. All the time in the film, it was as if, he was just an expectator and the manner of his character failed to mingle with the other characters. Yen's character failed to take of with the rest of the film, and all the time, he remained at the backseat while other less important, less dialogued characters were able to stay up front.

Another under developed part of the movie is the love story between Sue and Hong.(kind of makes me remember the disappointing endings of such beautifully created telefantasyas) They could do with more dialogues together.(hey! They only kissed once and that was merely a peck, kinds of make me think that that’s only Sue’s way of thanking people that saves her life, not a show of love and affection). Surely, if they are lacking in budget, I suggest that they should have just cut the unimportant and boring scenes of Linny and Yen. No, I am not saying that the love angle between Sue and Hong was wasted but it just doesn’t testify to Hong’s last words in the film, “ my relationship with Sue, a relationship between a cop and a bandit.” Seriously, the whole story could have just evolved around those words.(frankly saying, I could have done better.)

On the directing however, yes it could have been better. After Linny died, the directing died with her. What do I mean? Real directing has been replaced by transitions every 5 seconds (hey! This is a film, not PowerPoint!). Plus, they could have experimented more with the graphics. But what’s good is that, the director was able to keep the viewers on the edge, he was able to keep us expecting and craving for more after each scene, but it also has its downside, because if a director has the ability to make the movie flow that way, he must be able to answer to the viewer’s expectations.

However, the movie is worth watching the second time around, it even made me yell for a sequel even when I’m not yet through with it. I recommend it to everyone who wants a good laugh at the witty action scenes and the ones who love to always get thrown at the edge of their seats by a kick-butt movie.