One of Ringo Lam’s more popular movies, Full Contact puts Chow Yun-Fat in the role of Jeff, a bouncer at a Hong Kong club that gets embroiled in a robbery scheme after trying to bail out his friend Sam (Anthony Wong). A gambler by nature, Sam has borrowed money from a local gang boss. Knowing Jeff’s loyalty to his friends, the boss holds Sam hostage, hoping that Jeff will come up with the money. Instead, Jeff shows up and wreaks havoc on the gang, setting off a minor war and prompting Jeff and his group to split for Bangkok. There they hook up with Judge (Simon Yam) and his outfit, but in the middle of a robbery, Jeff is double-crossed by Sam and left for dead. Barely escaping, Jeff hides in Bangkok, healing himself and plotting his revenge against both Judge and his one time friend.
Full Contact is one of those movies where you sit back and wonder what could possibly happen next. Although the plot is a standard one of revenge, you’re never really sure who is playing who and which of the characters may wind up dead by the end of the film. Chow Yun-Fat seems to relish his character’s on-the-edge persona, as he seems to ready to snap at any moment and abandon all niceties in order to get what has been taken from him. Simon Yam does a great job in his role as Judge, the gay, psychotic gang leader determined to kill Yun Fat. The members of his gang, Virgin (Bonnie Fu) and Deano (Frankie Chin) are so over the top that you can’t help but laugh at their absurd scenes and the situations that arise between them. Overall, Full Contact is a good movie, but not fantastic. Chow Yun-Fat’s character is fun to watch due to his smoothness and your realization that nothing bad is going to happen to him, allowing you to enjoy how he goes about getting what he wants.

7/10