(Hmm, a cop about to transfer out of the triad war zone? Guess what happens to him?) Judging by the time, attention, and sometimes egregious technique that Law applies to his situations. Some of the details are relevant – such as when Lam Suet’s cop repeatedly discusses his desire to transfer for his family’s sake – but the details are frequently used for familiar reasons, compounding an already generic film with an abundance of cliché. The latter being the height of cinematic excitement, obviously. Too often we watch people travel from point A to point B, interrupt their serious meetings for wistful recollections of their childhood memories, or discuss their preference for Coke in bottles rather than in cans. But the effect is more pretentious and slow than rich or compelling. Law’s penchant for extended scenes and complete conversations draws attention to his ambitious screenplay. If he’s making some sort of serious gangster epic instead of a gritty triad potboiler.
But Law handles things with a conspicuous gravity. Fatal Move looks like a return to good ol’ triad angst and action. But the sometimes jarring fakeness removes the film enough from reality that it doesn’t feel compelling.Īnd compelling is what Law is aiming for. There’s visceral satisfaction in Law’s choice to amp the violence. Unfortunately, Law sometimes eschews practical effects for CGI body parts and blood, making the chaos sometimes resemble a videogame. If you’re a fan of this sort of excess, then yay for you, Fatal Move ( Doat Soi) could satisfy. There’s also a harrowing torture sequence, and an excessive machine gun attack that reduces a person to a meaty pile of flesh. Fellow killer Hang (Jacky Heung) attacks people with a folding blade, impaling or mutilating his targets before licking the blood off his fingers. Leading to severed arms, legs, fingers and other assorted body parts. Wu Jing’s Tin Hung likes to enter triad melees with a sword. Dennis Law goes for hardcore Category III violence, and earns the rating handily. Unfortunately, fake is what it looks like. There’s also action, handled here by Li Chung-Chi, and it’s entertaining when it doesn’t look too fake. But, when things really go bad in the triad, the cops are as happy as clams because hey. Meanwhile, the cops – led by Danny Lee as Inspector Liu – look on, trying to stop the bad guys while dealing with their own issues like early retirement, nefarious moles, or terrible police station security. Over the course of the film’s running time, triad members and related parties cheat, steal, and double-cross their allies to satisfy their generic or sometimes hidden desires. And the list starts on the lowest rung of the ladder and extends all the way to the top. Unfortunately, a lot of the other people in the organization aren’t loyal. As well as deadly blue-haired enforcer Tin Hung (Wu Jing) are steadfast in their loyalty. And followers like the gambling-addicted Brother Tung (Simon Yam). A few rotten apples spoil the bunch.īig Brother Lung (Sammo Hung) is an honorable triad leader.
The basic gist of this movie is this: they’re all triad brothers, but who really gives a crap? Some of them are loyal, but a few of them aren’t, and unfortunately. Because Hell is probably only a couple of blocks away from where you already are.
It’s hard to say that things go to Hell when you’re a blatantly evil organization run by categorically awful people. A multi-level triad organization up to its elbows in money laundering and drugs seems to be doing pretty damn well, toasting their success as a crime family while also thumbing their noses at the cops, who can do little more than harass them ineffectually. Writer-director Dennis Law, a former property developer turned filmmaker, has seemingly put together a foolproof package, starting with a storyline loaded with the potential for backstabbing and blood. It seems to think it’s a pretty good film, though.
This movie has everything to make your eighties HK film fan wet his bed – except perhaps quality. The movie even has an appearance by The Man Who Plays Cops™. And there’s even plenty of guns and flying blood to satiate those who like that sort of thing. Wu Jing ( Ngo Kinh) performs them powerfully. It’s set firmly in the Hong Kong underworld and features Simon Yam, Sammo Hung and Wu Jing, not to mention recognizable character actors in Lam Suet, Eddie Cheung and Maggie Siu. It’s not hard to see why the same audiences who dug SPL or Election might expect this to be a rip-roaring, meaty combination of both. Fatal Move is probably hotly-anticipated by international Hong Kong film fans, who may salivate when they hear of the film’s mixture of triad film trappings, classic action film stars.