You’ll all be glad to note that I am recovering from whatever it was that I had, and am currently convalescing on my new patio furniture, on my new patio. I love wireless.

I thought I’d detour away from anime and manga for a sec, because there’s a couple of live-action movies that are seriously worthy of note for the Yuri fan. Today’s offering is called in English, So Close. This is pretty much one of the best HK action flicks I’ve ever see. Period.

The story is pretty simple, hard-boiled uber-smart cop, played by Karen Mok, is on the trail of two cyber-criminal sisters, played by Shu Qi and Zhao Wei (Vicky Zhao.) The sisters are as strong in kung-fu and fashion as they are in hacking, and they have an ace up their sleeve – they can use any closed-circuit tv anywhere to see what’s going on. With this, and their own skills, they can pretty much take on anything. Until they come up against a mega-conglomerate and the evil Japan-obsessed leader.

I liked the action and the special effects in the movie – very John Woo and silly, but what made the movie sizzle for me was the heat between Vicky Zhao’s portrayal of Sue, the younger sister, and Karen Mok’s hard-assed cop, Kung. Right from the start there’s something in the way Sue looks at Kung that made me shiver – in a good way. ^_^

When Kung and Sue team up during the second half of the movie, there’s so much tension between them that Sue even comments on it, asking Kung, if things were different, would she be interested. Kung doesn’t answer, but there’s no doubt that she’s seriously thinking it over.

In the end, the good guys win, the bad guys die, and Sue gives Kung a farewell peck. It’s not the hot sex scene epilogue I would have written, but it was damn good. ^_^

The script is as good as any action flick’s, and a damn sight better than many. The Special/fx were all pretty well done, with one exception, and the acting is really top-notch. The Region 1 release of this has about a zillion language and subtitle options, but I opted to watch it in the original language with English subtitles…how dull. I probably could have had the Zambionese dub with Esperanto subtitles.

Ratings:
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Plot – 8
Yuri – 8

Overall a solid 8

If you like HK action and Yuri, really, this is a must-have.