3/28/2021 0 Comments Fatal Move 2008
The problem with Fatal Move is that it does nothing to make its assumed drama into more than a familiar collection of triad themes and clichs.However, the cardboard characters, uninvolving situations, and pretentious execution make this one an interminable chore.Given its fan-baiting cast and genre, Fatal Move only disappoints.Its 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.
Its 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. The action sequences are solid, Wu Jing performs them powerfully, and theres even plenty of guns and flying blood to satiate those who like that sort of thing. Fatal Move 2008 Movie Even HasThe movie even has an appearance by The Man Who Plays Cops, Danny Lee, who naturally plays a cop. This movie has everything to make your eighties HK film fan wet his bed - except perhaps quality. ![]() Then.IT ALL GOES TO HELL. Well, sort of. Its hard to say that things go to Hell when youre a blatantly evil organization run by categorically awful people, because Hell is probably only a couple of blocks away from where you already are. The basic gist of this movie is this: theyre all triad brothers, but who really gives a crap Some of them are loyal, but a few of them arent, and unfortunately, a few rotten apples spoil the bunch. Unfortunately, a lot of the other people in the organization arent loyal - and the list starts on the lowest rung of the ladder and extends all the way to the top. Over the course of the films running time, triad members and related parties cheat, steal, and double-cross their allies to satisfy their generic or sometimes hidden desires. 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. But, when things really go bad in the triad, the cops are as happy as clams because hey, that means fewer guys to bust later. Dennis Law goes for hardcore Category III violence, and earns the rating handily. Wu Jings Tin Hung likes to enter triad melees with a sword, leading to severed arms, legs, fingers and other assorted body parts. Fellow killer Hang (Jacky Heung) attacks people with a folding blade, impaling or mutilating his targets before licking the blood off his fingers. Theres also a harrowing torture sequence, and an excessive machine gun attack that reduces a person to a meaty pile of flesh. If youre a fan of this sort of excess, then yay for you, Fatal Move could satisfy. Unfortunately, Law sometimes eschews practical effects for CGI body parts and blood, making the chaos sometimes resemble a videogame. Theres visceral satisfaction in Laws choice to amp the violence, but the sometimes jarring fakeness removes the film enough from reality that it doesnt feel compelling. Fatal Move looks like a return to good ol triad angst and action, but Law handles things with a conspicuous gravity, as if hes making some sort of serious gangster epic instead of a gritty triad potboiler. Laws penchant for extended scenes and complete conversations draws attention to his ambitious screenplay, but the effect is more pretentious and slow than rich or compelling. 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 - the latter being the height of cinematic excitement, obviously. Some of the details are relevant - such as when Lam Suets cop repeatedly discusses his desire to transfer for his familys sake - but the details are frequently used for familiar reasons, compounding an already generic film with an abundance of clich. 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, its apparent that hes trying to create something with thematic and dramatic weight.
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