Wu Jing equals Jet Li, well not - just yet… After last year's scene stealing performance as an assassin in the now acclaimed – Sha Po Long, Wu Jing is now the tiny territory's lone martial arts future. His skills and fluency are second to none and his reputation of training in the same school as Jet Li only furthers this compliment. With that being said, Wu Jing still have miles to go, before he should even be compared to the later superstar, as his acting is still stiff and lack any sort of emotional impact. Sure, his death stare role in SPL can do wonders, but this is a leading role that we are talking about and as likable as Wu Jing is, he does not have the on-screen presence of Jet Li – just yet. Luckily, whatever acting talents that Wu lacks, is duly compensated, by the comic presence of everyone's love and hate – Ronald Cheng and the increasing cuteness of his fellow female co-stars in Miki and Theresa. There are definitely moments of exceptionally well choreographed fight sequences that will make you – wow and wah, but ultimately the movie fails to connect as director Dennis Law resorts to a cliché filled end. Just like, most HK movies, it just doesn't finish off with a bang! The movie goes like this: Wu Jing plays a Peking opera actor and former national martial-art champion, who makes a short visit to Hong Kong and is lured to join in the underground boxing ring. While winning matches one after the other, he is also sinking deeper and deeper into the dangerous game.Director Dennis Law is a strange newcomer, as he ventures into two completely different genres of film making one being Love @ First Note and the other being this one. The former one is obviously a sweet romantic comedy, about two not so-good-looking guy and girl - somehow getting together and somehow fitting a couple of promotional music video for Justin Lo, but here, Law moves to action and in displaying action, he is not afraid to show the full brutality of the punches and that alone is a success. There is potential in this lad, and hopefully, Law will be given more opportunities and freedom which can only head one direction - as he will only get better.Fatal Contact isn't just a film about underground fighting, but Law attempts to show the darkness of the business and the fact that no matter whom you are, you are never in control of yourself. Winning might win you money, but the moment you enter into this black fist underworld, there is only one way out – death. It might seem a rather simple message, but at the very least it seems more realistic then most of the romantic comedies these days. There is a scene where Wu Jing was fighting Andy On, in a fight that almost met his death. It is this very moment that Wu Jing has transformed into a monster – no longer human and no longer humane. By entering this world, Wu have not only betrayed himself physically, but mentally and internally. Basically, Law is trying to say two words – dead end.Having impressed Neo immensely in b420, Miki is a more than capable actress, and here, she is both convincing yet unconvincing, but that's partly for the director to be blamed. She engages the audience well in her scenes with Wu Jing, and even overshadowing his mainlander speaking canto accent. There are times where you feel you understand her character and then it all go downhill and eventually a forced resolution where the director preferred to take the route frequently taken. Ronald Cheng is funny and likable, but is wasted in a supporting that can be played by almost everybody and most notably Chapman To. You either love him or hate him, but here you just want to see more of him and his comic antics. Theresa appears here and there as a "chicken" and further emphasizing the darkness of the underworld.All in all, Fatal Contact is a brutal, realistic and fluent fighting sequence and combines well with the deep yet simple message about the downfall of humanity and that anyone can be corrupted. However, like many other HK movies before him, director Dennis Law fails big time, by going the route of the clichés and the processes is destroying a movie that could have offered so much more. With that being said, both Law and Wu are still young and fresh talents and both have moments of greatness within the flick, even if it is not wholly consistent. Still, this is a credible effort and fights sequences that stand well alongside Sha Po Long and heck this isn't a bad movie after all. Let's hope that this movie will be remembered as the one that launched Wu Jing into a Jet Li and Dennis Law into a Corey Yuen – well at least we can hope… (Neo 2006)I rate it 7.5/10www.thehkneo.com

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.

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.

I've watched a lot of HK action films... some are pretty amazing, many are guilty pleasures, and sadly a few are just plain awful. This one falls into the latter category. Fatal Contact is terrible, and not in that "so bad it's good" enjoyable sort of way. The writing is awkward, the acting is hollow, and the direction is stiff and joyless. Every scene is miserable. It's like someone made a backyard-grade production with half a normal film's budget. I don't speak Chinese, so I read the subtitles... which means I can be pretty generous with regards to the performances, especially in a martial arts film. When I can tell how flat and mechanical the acting is, even across the language barrier, you know it's pretty bad. The dialog is recited as if read from scribbled cue cards. Actors stare at nothing in particular, making nervous faces like they've just ad-libbed a bad line.. they even sometimes look at the camera. This may seem like a petty complaint for a silly action movie, but it really makes it impossible to enter into the film and feel any excitement.The script is similarly weak...dull, fragmented, predictable, preachy, and at times painfully misogynistic. Even for manic HK genre film, the tone is inconsistent. It seems to hit a sour note at almost every turn. I might have praised this film for showing illegal underground boxing matches in realistically mundane environments like old train stations, fluorescent-lit rented hotel conference chambers, boat marinas, etc, but somehow the lack of interesting locations or presentation often robs the scenes of any drama they would normally have. Instead, it just feels cheap and unimaginative.So what about the action? Jacky Wu has always been a competent martial performer, if not particularly engaging on a personal level, and the action sequences should be the highlight of this film. Unfortunately, the impact is consistently killed by bad editing and unexciting villains. The choreography is pretty dull and unexciting. Every confrontation is a disappointment. Granted, Wu does pull off a couple of sweet moves. Unfortunately I mean that LITERALLY... I think I counted them and there are about two. Wu is a proved talent, but this film is strong evidence that having good screen fighters is not enough to carry even a fun action cheapie if every other aspect of the movie fails.Notably Ronald Cheng DOES sort of portray an interesting character... I was hoping for him to become more significant in the story, but don't be fooled. NOTHING happens with this character. That goes Lam Suet and Ken Lo too, sadly. The familiar HK supporting faces in this film are no indication of its quality. I was under the impression that a Dragon Dynasty release would at least be worth a look. Don't waste your time... or if you must, skip to the fight scenes just to relieve your curiosity. Nothing else here is even remotely worthwhile.