Corey Yuen

So Close

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Shu Qi close-up

Men are largely an irrelevance in So Close, Corey Yuen’s “girls with guns” actioner made in 2002 just as Hong Kong was exiting its glory period. I prompted Google in AI mode to list the key characteristics of the “girls with guns” genre were. It said – Hong Kong, female protagonists, gunplay and stunts, challenging norms and exploitation v agency. We get all of those in the opening sequence, in which assassin Shu Qi’s Lynn, dressed all in white, enters the HQ of a shady Hong Kong megacorporation posing as a techy “angel” specialising in malware attacks. Only to exit shortly afterwards at speed, pursued by scores of security men, many of them … Read more

Yes, Madam!

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Inspector Ng with gun

Yes, Madam! isn’t in any way like a fine wine. It has not aged well and looks far worse now than it did when it came out in 1985. A Hong Kong comedy actioner that knows its audience and its times, it was made quickly for a market that wanted it. Posterity could sort itself out. This is the bit where I outline the plot and it’s actually quite hard to do that, since so much of Yes, Madam! makes no sense and it feels at times like it’s been cobbled together from offcuts of other action movies. After a whipcrack opener involving a flasher, a heist, some gunplay and a car stunt, … Read more