Hak kuen (2006) Reviews

• Beautiful action. The rest requires a bit of an open mind.

  ace523872006-10-11

  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.

• Jacky Wu / Wu Jing is the reason to watch this movie

  chrichtonsworld2006-12-14

  This is a martial arts movie with a story that for the most part isn't compelling. Only the ending is a bit crude and brutal and come to think of it completely ridiculous. I think the director wanted to add some drama to make this movie more interesting. What the director seems to have forgotten that he doesn't need the drama, because he has Jacky Wu / Wu Jing (known from Tai Chi Boxer). When he does his thing, you are in for a treat. The man has some skill and he shows it whenever he can. The martial arts in this movie is great and that alone is the reason to watch this movie. The pace however is a bit slow. This due to the story. If they really wanted to make a interesting story they should have used "The Captain" more, since he was a great character. Instead we are confronted with some abstract fatalistic love story that does not make any sense. Who is to blame for that? Dennis Law , ladies and gentlemen. If you want more proof of his incompetence then go watch Fatal Move which was meant as a sequel to S.P.L. with Donnie Yen. Director Dennis Law is an example of a film maker who really shouldn't be in the business since he lacks vision and creativity. He basically copies and pastes stories and themes and combines them without adding something fresh or original and then thinks he is finished. Most of the time he is lucky that he is surrounded by competent people who more than once improve the film considerably. But it does beg the question why talented people like Sammo Hung, Simon Yam and Wu Jing would be involved with his productions at all. In any case try to ignore the story and focus on the action. It's hard hitting and exhilarating.

• Great action with soul

  bobbyem2008-10-22

  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.

• See it for the action since the story isn't that good

  dbborroughs2008-07-30

  Young acrobat in a Chinese Opera style show is wanted by the mob to fight in underground boxing matches. He refuses, but later decides to try it when he and his girl realize there's money to be made. Moving in with one of the gangsters named the Captain he starts to fight and win. As his handlers realize that there is money to be made he begins to fight more and more punishing matches and things begin to go in ways he never expected. Good but not great action film plays at times more like a romance and buddy comedy. To be certain there are some very good fight scenes, but more of the film seems to be about the characters. This is both good and bad. Good because we get to meet the Captain, a low level gangster who is actually a kung fu master himself. He's trying to get enough money to open a dim sum place for his mom. His scenes, which at first seem forced turn out to be some of the more charming of the whole film. The problem here is he's much more interesting then the two leads who have some charm but ultimately blend in with everyone else. In more then one fight scene I wasn't sure which guy I was rooting for. Then in the final half hour things go in a different direction. While it did get me to sit up and take notice, I wasn't sure if this was a new twist or something that had been foreshadowed since it was only at this one point I realized I hadn't really been paying attention. I have no idea how you'll react to the turn of events but they a tad downbeat. Is the film worth seeing? yes no maybe. The fights are good, the drama fair. The trouble is that its really far from gripping. You don't really care for the characters, other than Captain, and I found myself watching more to see the fights then anything else. I think the only way to explain this is as an odd drama with fights. 5 Out of 10. The choice to see it is yours.

• Great action scenes but....

  diggler_inc2008-10-13

  This movie is beautifully shot with some of the greatest fight scenes of any film in recent years. Anytime there is a fight, even the brief ones, the film shines. However, the rest of the film is awful despite the excellent photography. This movie is plagued by bad acting and bad story. This movie is extremely stupid. Every non-action scene is terrible. That being said it is still worth watching for the fight scenes. The fights go at a fast pace and are pretty believable. They are somewhat similar to Flashpoint and SPL. This is an absurdly silly movie that expects the audience to be morons but the fights are well-done.