Fatal Move

There's no guarantee in life that another day means another dollar, but you can pretty much count on a new Simon Yam movie coming along. And here he is again in a triad story, but don't let the fact bring you down or put you off: this is actually a cool movie, marrying as it does serious underworld scheming with fantasy violence. It's kind of like the Infernal Affairs trilogy condensed and on crack.

Fatal Move is a Category III for violence only – and it's indeed relatively bloody, even if much of the gore is cheap CGI. This is no Hostel, but nonetheless the body count is impressive and the range of physical outrages quite extensive, including one torture scene where Simon not only says it's pain time, but also does most of the inflicting in person.

The result of all this bears some similarity to last summer's Invisible Target, although Fatal Move isn't as compelling or refreshing, nor are its characters quite as appealing. It also has crooks masquerading as cops, a raid on a police station and a SWAT/SDU team being made fools of, and does possess considerable talent – in addition to Yam, we get Sammo Hung and Wu Jing, both very capable performers, albeit not in their strongest outings here. This is especially true for Wu Jing, whose looney-aggressive act appears lifted directly from SPL, only not as sincere. Sammo gets very little time to show off his moves, yet does well as clan leader Lin Ho Lung, a veteran criminal who for once bothers with differentiating between "triad" and "mafia", a point rarely noted on the big screen.

The story begins with Boss Lin celebrating the birth of his first son, and all's well – his deputies Ah Tung (Simon Yam) and Tin Hung (Wu Jing) seem to have things under control, while his female right hand person Soso (Tien Niu) maintains the books balanced and the money flowing in.

This being a triad actioner, calm isn't the primary directive, and quickly things go sour as internal conniving and treachery become the order of the day on top of pressure from ever-present cops, led by Danny Lee as Inspector Liu, and with Lam Suet throwing in a cameo for some tragic-comic relief.

Soon the choppings, sword slashings, bludgeoning and outright gunning down of cronies by the van load commence, accompanied by a rather convoluted string of double-dealing and treachery that affects all involved parties. Although this means the characters aren't totally flat and do have motivations, this facet of the story is left somewhat under-developed and thus results in mild confusion. As a consequence, the ending, which has a couple of supposed stunner-twists, fails to stuff the bucket, as they say, instead coming across as a bit of a red herring in fancy evening wear. This applies to many parts of Fatal Move – even at two hours it still feels cut in many instances, like they had to remove scenes at the last minute or something.

Overall, Director Law (who did Fatal Contact before, also with Wu Jing) supervised a competent project here. This is a worthy addition to an already heavily populated herd of jiang hu flicks, and Fatal Move is all-told a memorable and visceral release that's unlikely to go down as a classic despite being a solid viewing with a healthy dose of both Election-like gangland politics and comic book hyperbole. We'd say go for it, it's one move you'll live to not regret.

I have the US Lionsgate release , so I am unsure in any case if the US DVD is cut at all. The best thing about this movie is the cast. Which contains HK legends Sammo Hung, Simon Yam and supercop Danny Lee. Everything other than that is average at best. The story is nothing special and neither is the action . While there is plenty of violence and carnage, it is mostly CG. Plus said CGI is some of the worst I've seen since PS1 came out. Usually HK movies are classy and subtle with the use of CG. Not here, this is 'nt by any means a terrible film. Just an average action flick with horrible f/x and an exceptional cast. If you are new to Hong Kong cinema , I would say to watch another one of these actor's other movies instead . Otherwise keep your expectations low with this one . I give 4/10 for the movie and 6/10 when consideration for the awesome cast.

Fatal Move brings in new level of action in Hong Kong cinema. Cast is similar to that of SPL, and Sammo Hung and Simon Yam stars in this movie, this time working on the same side. The tone of the movie is similar to the one explored in the Infernal Affairs in that gangs will go to any extent to get their money, involvement between police and the gang is portrayed in detail, and deception plays a role in the story. What separates Fatal Move is the level of action and violence portrayed, and Wu Jing shows his fast and very beautifully choreographed move as the heavy in this movie.

This movie to me is a ground breaking movie in Hong Kong action movie genre like Better Tomorrow did back in the '80s. While Better Tomorrow was somewhat mindless violence, this is violence with lots of intent backing it.

The last fight between Wu Jing, and Sammo Hung was the only mindless battle, but if you have two such talent, you'd be remiss as a writer not to include this fight scene.

Danny Lam plays the usual cop role, and Taiwanese actress Kelly Niu shows that she still looks great on the big screen.

All of this brings good entertainment to this new age Hong Kong action movie.

Highly recommended.

FATAL MOVE is a grisly Hong Kong Triad movie that reunites many of the same cast members from the excellent KILL ZONE (aka SPL). The storyline charts the misadventures of a Triad gang who initially seem to have it all before lies, backstabbing and deceit beget eventual destruction and chaos.

At first, it's quite odd seeing all of the familiar cast members on the same side for once; there's little conflict, and it takes a while for the plot to begin properly. Once it does, though, things become almost Shakespearian in tone, with one character's imprisonment (Jackie Chan's former bodyguard, the excellent Ken Lo) leading to all manner of massacres and berserk action.

The brutal fight scenes are what propel this action-packed enterprise and they make liberal use of CGI blood throughout. Wu Jing plays another cocky, hateful killer who enjoys mutilating his victims and during a torture sequence the film takes violence to a whole new level. Vicious car chases and the like certainly keep the energy flowing, and my only complaint is that there's too little martial arts to enjoy. We have to wait until the climax before we see Sammo back in action, although I have to say it's well worth the wait.

Cast-wise, Sammo bags the most interesting role, playing a conflicted mob boss who doesn't seem to be that bad a guy for the most part. Simon Yam has a slick, somewhat minor role and doesn't really do much, and Wu Jing is there for the violence alone. However, it's great to see Danny Lee (THE KILLER) back on the screens once more, even if the film doesn't give him much to play other than the stereotyped dogged cop.

FATAL MOVE is no masterpiece but I found it highly entertaining as genre entries go. It's certainly not on the level of the Wilson Yip/Donnie Yen collaborations but it comes close at regular intervals.

Tagline: Almost as good as SPL… Review by Neo: Dennis Law have finally come of age and after 2 unfulfilled attempts, Law have strike third time luckily with Fatal Move. Fatal Move is not just a good movie, as saying that would be a clear understatement, but one that Neo can proudly claim as the best in 2008 HK cinema so far. Despite a few unnecessary parts in between and some moments of predictability, Fatal Move qualifies as an action movie with HK flair and almost matching the feat of 2005's SPL. It's been a while since Neo have witnessed a good HK movie and with it being so close to his 22nd birthday, Fatal Move comes just at the right timing.

Director Dennis Law have previously debuted in the teenage targeted Love @ First Note and have since then gone on to make his first shot at action cinema with the above average Fatal Contact. There is no doubt that Law's career lies in action cinema and if this flick is any indication, his direction is only heading one way and that is up and coming. It is always refreshing to witness a new generation director producing a good quality flick and it is all the more exciting when it comes to action cinema. Law smartly casts a trio from SPL, namely Sammo Hung, Simon Yam and Wu Jing and the result is some quality martial arts sequence and lots of fun to be had.

Also of special mention, it is probably the first time in years, where action flicks have succeeded without the involvement of Donnie Yen. Perhaps it is time to unleash Wu Jing on his first true starring in almost a decade since Tai Chi 2. Like his role in SPL, Wu Jing, the protégé of Jet Li is cool enough to rock the screen and likable enough to keep the audience attention. His fighting is slick and his youthfulness sets him apart from the rest of the aging cast. Still, these kinds of roles might make him look cooler than anyone deserves to be, but ultimately they are paper thin and not ones that allows Wu Jing to show his full potential. However, it is nonetheless a sigh of fresh air as the days of Sammo Hung is closer to retirement than debutant.

Also in the mix is Lee Sir, Danny Lee and without a second though there is no doubt that Lee have aged considerably since his The Killer days and the sight of him with a gun is about as believable as a pensioner robbing a bank. With that being said, it is always a pleasure to see him back on the big screen and once again reminding the audience exactly how movies are used to be made. Sammo Hung almost reprises his role of SPL but this time with a degree of remorseless and thus allowing the audience to maintain interest in his character. Unfortunately one of Law's weak points is that he is no Wilson Yip, which means that he is not a character director. Luckily, the fight sequences more than compensate and the result are some quietly entertaining long takes of these coolly filmed scenes.

Simon Yam also appears here and there, but is somewhat subdued and almost certainly a role more suited to the likes of Francis Ng. Veteran actress Tien Niu impresses the audience with a performance that is menacing yet understanding. Those final words of her are strong and her facial expression matched the strong dialogue given to her. As for Lam Suet, he is just himself, but for an actor that does so little, Lam is damn memorable and his acting is just priceless to laugh or cry for.

All in all, Fatal Move is easily the best movie of 2008 so far and it is safe to say that it is a movie that Neo actually liked. I understand that the current reviewer has been a little too strict in recent times, but there is no argument that the quality being delivered so far this year has largely been disappointing. With that being said, it always feel good and makes Neo's day a hell lot better whenever he witness good HK cinema. Firstly, it is surprising, secondly, it makes him feel like his effort and passion for this industry isn't just going straight to the garbage dump and finally, it allows the current review to sleep well at night. So what's wrong with Fatal Move, the answer is that there is nothing wrong, but the fact that Neo got sort of over-excited like a little kid receiving a balloon… (Neo 2008)

I rate it 9/10

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