Hak kuen

I can understand why some people didn't like this, but on the whole I think this was a far superior offering than a lot of kung fu (or however you feel better classifies this type of film) offerings I have recently watched.

(I have been a long time fan of Hong Kong martial arts films, and I am trying to put this review in the context of both 70s/80/s classics as well as more modern takes on the genre. Also I have a wide ranging preference in kung fu films - from the serious, the comedic, through to plush high end productions.)

This film does start slowly, and perhaps is more in keeping with Asian dramas for the 1st quarter of the film. And I can understand why that would not be rewarding for some viewers. But if you hold out a little, as time goes on is increasingly riveting.

The plot, which tends to be incredibly thin in many martial arts films, is relatively rich. While, there are some guessable twists long the way, equally there are some surprising ones.

Perhaps more importantly, the action is very well choreographed and it's lead a very strong fighter. I was really impressed by Jacky Wu's technique - I wouldn't have wanted to be on any of his punches or kicks, and it wasn't all fantasy fight (e.g. loads of wires) either.

It is the momentary lapses in sentimentality that, for me, mark this down from 9 to about 7 1/2 (ish).

In a nutshell: if you can get past the 1st part's (and occasional) lack of pace, this is a well put together, well choreographed film, with a strong lead and impressive martial arts.

Sure there where some rough spots but its a Kung fu movie after all. I would gladly choose this over any American Van Damme movie.

Great Kung Fu that almost never got boring and did not have the same lame win win win loose build up again and win curve that all the other movies have. Plus The "captain" was a great character that added to the movie a lot.

I don't see how martial arts lovers can look down on this movie, maybe I have missed something? I saw Flash Point yesterday (dubbed witch did not help) and that movie was a real kids movie compared to this one.

A very sympathetic protagonist. Great action and some funny moments.

Hmm, the synopsis listed on this page made me wonder if I'd seen a different film.

Jacky Wu plays a kung fu champion whose skills are apparently performance only (i.e. all technical with zero combat experience), yet when he feels pressured by the girl wooing him to provide, he goes against his moral code of using his skills for violence to compete in an illegal street fight. Naturally, one easy win tempts another fight, for more money, and so, things quickly descend...

On the surface this is an above-average film (thanks to Jacky Wu's typically excellent fight scenes), but by the time the final credits roll, the subtleties of the way the characters acted and said certain things becomes clear and it's this aspect which lifts the script from something very enjoyable to something brilliant. Others may (quite foolishly) refer to all this as superfluous, or insult the writer for adding unnecessary dramatic elements, but for me, this screenplay involved more psychology than 90% of drama... and they're as boring as hell too!

In terms of action or great fight sequences this may not be Jacky Wu's best film, however, in terms of depth and entertainment, it rates up there with the best flicks released in the same year, all genres, all nations. My only problem was that a K1 fighter would very doubtfully engage in such a showy form and would be hardly likely to use kung fu techniques at all (karate, kickboxing or muay Thai would have been expected).

A good film well worth watching with a lot more to it than I've bothered to brush upon here. I'm personally now looking out for more Ronald Cheng (Captain) flicks as his acting and martial arts skills were impressive.

The real reason anyone will see fatal contact is for the action. With that in mind, you may have to forgive a little bit of the jumpy and clichéd story telling.

The action sequences are frequent, and well choreographed. It's an interesting combination of brutal and flashy. Wu Jing will throw several jumping multi-kicks, but because the general rhythm of the fights are captured well, it doesn't look too far fetched. The choreographers throw in some pretty believable elements in the competition fights. You may see the fighters just hop around a it to psych each other out, and you'll notice, the more brutal the fights get, the less visible these sportsman like elements become. It's pretty interesting. There's no wirework and very little, if any, video speed up that is flamboyant in some HK movies.

Wu Jing really struts his stuff in this movie. I would say in general, he's very similar to jet li. He has this strange brutalness that jet li embodies in his roles with a modern setting. He looks wild, but clean at the same time. Wu Jing is younger, more vibrant, and he even has more flare than Jet Li. An actor like Donnie Yen has a different kind of appeal, but because Jet Li is getting old, and probably no longer doing action movies anymore, Wu Jing would make a superb replacement.

The story has almost no introduction, no time to familiarize a little with the characters, and the actual revelations about the characters are sporratic and placed in seemingly random places. It has a terrible and nonsensical love story, which luckily, isn't the focus. The whole setup is pretty nonsensical as well. Some guys walk into an opera performance, and somehow recognize skill in a performer. They ask him to fight underground for them, and they offer a lot of money. Of course, a lowly wushu performer is poor, and he eventually decides he neeeds the money. The setup is all a little fantastical to me, especially with the realistic setting. I feel it would be more at home in an aime than a live action movie with a modern day setting. It helped a lot to almost imagine Fatal Contact taking place in some alternate universe where the underground fighting scene is big money, and the scouters are like pimps. A world where performers are poor, but incredibly talented fighters. It's almost romantic if you think of it that way. So the setting is bearable and kinda interesting if you give it some of your imagination, but the story is still hampered by tons of cheesy dialogue and that oh so corny romance.

It's all about the action though, and that totally does not fail to disappoint. My favorite action movie in recent times is Sha Po Lang. The stories in both are at least a little cliché, but SPL had the cleaner, less sporratic story telling. It also had cinematography of a higher quality than Fatal Contact. Still though, Wu Jing and his action co-stars drive a really tough bargain. His moves are cleaner, flashier, and he's more vibrant than Donnie Yen. I almost can't decide of Fatal Contact trumps SPL or not.

After seeing Jacky Wu Jing in "Kill Zone", I was excited to see "Fatal Contact". That excitement died quickly when I realized it was a wire-fu movie. There's not one single fight scene that doesn't use wire work extensively. I'm not talking about a jump here or a kick there either, it's the whole fight scenes. Jacky is good. His fight with Donnie Yen in Kill Zone is classic. That's why I don't understand the overkill with wires here. Why not use the guy's real talent. I like realistic fight scenes and this doesn't have a single one. It's not impressive when a guy does a flip off of a stack of wooden pallets if he is using a wire. The same can be said for spin kicks. The rest of this movie is equally bad. Terrible dialogue, acting, story, and one of the worst endings in movie history.