Fatal Contact

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.

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.

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.

I give it a 10.It's a movie full of soul.It starts pretty funny, gets into serious talking.But the ending and the characters make everything possible.It's about life, it's about priorities, it's about the human soul.If the soul is too damaged it will never survive happier times, it will crumble under it's own weight.Gives perspective on life....most people won't understand or appreciate it. The actors are playing a serious and simple act, they don't have fancy words or eccentric habits. The scenes are pretty simple and focus on the characters. I would not miss this movie if i like to see the unseen. The main characters are like children, they are in a pure form of existence, they are mortals, they are human.

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.