There's an old saying: "Always the bridesmaid, never the bride". That is pretty appropriate for Wu Jing (aka Jacky Wu). Though he has been making movies for over a decade now and has worked with some of the top people in the industry like Yuen Woo-Ping, it was not until his appearance in last year's SPL (aka Killzone) that Wu began to get some buzz about him. With most of the genre's major stars now in their last days, can Wu capitalize on the hype and become "the" next big action star?

Judging from Wu's latest film, Fatal Contact, the answer is a resounding "maybe". Wu certainly looks good during the fighting sequences and is amicable enough during the exposition stuff. However, the film falls prey to many of the traps which surround movies of this type (especially at the lower end of the budget spectrum), and one never really gets the sense that Wu is being used to his full potential.

In the film, Wu plays a member of the Chinese national wushu team who is tapped by a local promoter (Lam Suet) to particiapte in underground fighting matches. At first, Wu refuses, but after some prodding from his girlfriend (Miki Yeung) and training from a strange kung-fu master (Ronald Cheng), Wu enters the dark world of unlicensed bouts. He quickly rises to the top of the ranks, which attracts the attention of an unscrupulous promoter (Ken Lo), who wants to fix the fights in order to insure a big payday.

For someone weaned on the action movies of the 1980's, this plot fits right in with those types of films. And, like those films, the plot is only really a device to get to the next fight. There are quite a few brawls -- most of them are far too short to really see what Wu Jing can do onscreen -- but overall, they're done well enough that the viewer can forgive some of the fluff surrounding them (a weak love story, obvious double-crosses, etc.). If you're an action junkie and are willing to sacrifice things like actual character development for ass-kicking, then you'll have a good time with this movie.

[review from www.hkfilm.net]