Hak kuen (2006)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Dennis Law

Writer:

Dennis Law (written by)

Release Date:

5 October 2006 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

Action

Tagline:

Only one can be champion.

Plot:

A young man learns the fighting techniques of Sanda from a coach. The two become best friends as the young man prepares to enter an underground tournament, competing against some of the top fighters of the world. |

Cast

Jacky Wu	...	Kong Ko (as Wu Jing)
Ronald Cheng	...	Captain
Miki Yeung	...	Siu Tin
Theresa Fu	...	Chui Chi
Siu-Fai Cheung	...	Ma Ho-Keung (as Cheung Siu Fai)
Ken Lo	...	Chan Sun (as Kenneth Low)
Andy On	...	Silver Dragon
Timmy Hung	...	Portland Street Fighter
Suet Lam	...	Soo (as Lam Suet)
Yu Xing	...	King (as Xing Yu)
Yu Gu	...	Fai (as Kris Gu)
Tats Lau	...	Beggar (as Lau Yee Tat)
Sze-Ming Lu	...	Wai (as Johnny Lu)
Marco Lok	...	Ricky
Shiu Hung Hui	...	Worker Ming (as Hui Siu Hung)

Also Known As:

Fatal Contact (International: English title)
Underground Fist (Hong Kong: English title) (literal title)

Runtime:

Germany:110 min (European Film Market)

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Hong Kong:IIB | Singapore:NC-16 | Germany:16

Company:

China Star Entertainment

Trivia:

Jacky Wu trained in Sanda for the film in Beijing and was nearly knocked out by one of the Sanda team members.

Movie Connections:

References King Kong (1933)

Soundtrack:

THEME SONG

I HATED it...

I've watched a lot of HK films... some are amazing, some are guilty pleasures, and some are just awful. This one falls into the last category. The stiff writing, hollow acting and absolute lack of directing ability make it fatal contact for my attention span.

I don't speak Chinese, so I read the subtitles... which means I can be pretty generous with regards to the acting. When I can tell that how flat and mechanical the acting is, even in Chinese, you know it's bad. Every scene is miserable, with the dialog being recited as if it's being read from a book.

Actors stare at nothing in particular, or make nervous faces like they've just ad-libbed a bad line.. they even sometimes look at the camera. It's like someone made a backyard-grade production with half a budget. You never once feel that you are watching actual characters, but rather extremely awkward actors who are clearly getting no help from their director or script.

And don't get me started on the script; facile, fake, dull, preachy, and often painfully misogynistic. Characters are added only to be made redundant in the next scene. The ton is inconsistent, even for a manic HK film, and seems to hit a sour note at almost every turn. Absolutely appalling, and not in the "so bad it's good" sort of way.

And a word on the setting... I would praise this film for showing illegal underground boxing matches in realistically mundane environments like old train stations, rented fluorescent-lit hotel conference chambers, boat marinas, etc, but somehow the lack of theatricality in the locations often robs the scenes of any drama they would normally have.

The action would be the highlight of this film except that the impact of each scene is killed by bad editing and unexciting villains. Every confrontation is a disappointment, and while granted, Jacky Wu does pull off a couple of sweet moves, unfortunately I mean that LITERALLY... I think I counted them. There are only 2 really good moves. 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.

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.

Don't waste your time... or if you must, skip to the fight scenes. Nothing else here is even remotely worthwhile.