When you pick it up from the bargain bin, or the bangketa at Greenhills, you immediately think, well, this is a Charlie's Angels in Asia ripoff. Forget the fact that it is Shu Qi, or Karen Mok, or Zhao Wei. Forget the fact that, as you look closer into the credits, it is a film by Corey Yuen, the same guy who did The Transporter (which also has Shu Qi and features Jason Statham's worked out forearms, pectorals and attitude), Bodyguard from Beijing, No Retreat No Surrender, and Hero.

Okay, so you don't forget. Hey, it's discount.

Stick it in right after watching Sportscenter, and you'll catch my drift: this is a movie where, like The Transporter, you're best checking your brain at the door before watching. Sorry, but there is some serious bitchslapping here. Guns, martial arts, car chases, swords, sticks, sniper rifles, hi-tech gadgetry: it's almost as if Yuen wants to score in every action genre, be it the spy game type or the Rush Hour type. Very soon, you realize that the three are NOT working together, thus killing off the Charlie's Angels premonition. In fact, Mok's character is chasing after the two others, who are hired assasins. I can't avoid saying it: looks can kill. If only the movie didn't kick off with a computer virus.

But kick ass they do. And they do so in some very memorable scenes. There is the first encounter of the three in, where else?, a parking lot. Yuen gracefully choreographs Mok, Zhao and Shu Qi (Mok the one with the most martial arts training, which is not a lot by Michelle Yeo's standards) as they knot and untangle in kickboxing-jeet kun do wire-fu captured from every angle. Consider this scene Number 1 in the Sportscenter countdown. Number 2 comes earlier in the movie, and the only reason it's Number 2 is that it only has one pair of fists, Shu Qi's (versus a mob of nameless suits). Picture the Carpenter's "Close to You" lilting in the background with Shu Qi, two guns, a pair of high heeled boots, and glass shattering everywhere. (Hey, where is that wind that's blowing her hair-like-lace coming from?)

Yuen finds the time to develop some character, particularly that of Shu Qi's. She has a "boyfriend" (you'll find out what those quotation marks are for when you watch the movie) and a lovely sister who likes cake and plays geek at home all day in her gym shorts (slashdot readers take note). The strong sisterhood is developed for a reason, as it is tested in the latter parts of the movie.

In fact, there is a heck of a lot of drama for all three main characters combined. The homeopathic subtexts, yes, even the prospect of a Karen Mok-Zhao Wei romance, makes one a bit giddy, and certainly throws one off the action.

Action which pulsates throughout, leaving the audience with lots of cover-girl-turned-ruthless-killer images in their heads. But the movie is a sort of a letdown at the end: why re-stage the first action sequence? Couldn't they have just done it differently? We've seen this building before, haven't we? And all it took was Shu Qi the first time, NOW you're sending two? It's the same buncha stiffs... Gee...

Wait, there is a twist. They're fighting the Big Boss here at the end. He's a frickin Samurai who goes crazy-Toshiro-Mifune-monkey ass sh*t twirling swordfighting vs. Mok and Zhao. Oh, please, don't kill Zhao. Please. Only she knows how to operate World Panaroma (see virus in the beginning). No, please, not the face!

Alas, Yuen is kind to his fans. Mok and Zhao Wei (and her unrequited love) survive, and Shu Qi? Well she... she lasts forever.

(By the way, they have a killer website.)