Fatal ContactThis movie, to me, is Wu Jing’s most exciting lead role in an action flick!

Fatal Contact tells the story of Kong, played by Wu Jing, who his a performer in a martial arts team who has a goal to become famous and be the next Jet Li.

Kong is approached by some gangsters to fight in the underground boxing circuit  – a no rules illegal fighting circuit that pays good money to it’s fighters.  Turning them down, Kong goes back to what he was doing.

Kong then meets and talks to a young girl Tin.  Tin and Kong spend some time together and even go on a little dinner date, where after some trouble with the staff get onto the topic of being poor.  Before long Tin persuades Kong to fight in the underground boxing competition and the two go there and get Kong his first fight.

From there Kong wins his first match very easily, before going onto a string of victories.  

Each fight gets harder as the format changes and more ferocious fighters are introduced, one by one he fights each of them while his situation with Tin and the Gangsters slowly gets more and more complicated.

A character driven story

So the real story behind the plot focuses a lot on Kong and his relationship with Tin.  The two get closer and become a very tight team, but both slowly start to head in different directions.

As Tin pushes for more money with each fight and pushes Kong to fight better and harder, Kong starts to discover certain things about himself.

Kong Fights the Big guy

Being a performer, Kong begins to learn the difference between practicing Kung Fu and offering a flashy performance, and getting into the nitty gritty of fighting.  With each fight he gets angrier and begins to lose sight of the damage he is causing, seriously injuring and almost killing some of his opponents.

After some of the fight he reflects on his action, absolutely shocked that he was so driven to punish his opponent that he almost killed him.  Meanwhile Tin is soaking it up and loving it.

Fatal Contact comments on the difference between Kung Fu and Fighting

Things get a little strained as Tin seems overjoyed and Kong seems concerned with who he is becoming.  I find the theme extremely interesting and underrated with many of the reviews and comments I’ve read on the film.  As a martial artist who has spent a big chunk of his life training, I always maintained that practicing and bettering yourself with Martial Arts training is a completely different thing to fighting.

While Martial Arts training and performance is something fun, is great for physical health and fitness and can be extremely rewarding, the act of fighting can consume your attention, and quite often you can end up blinded by rage and that flight or flight mode caused by adrenaline.

This movie does a good job of showing Kong’s concern for his actions as he crosses the line from a peaceful, performing martial artist into more of a brute, fighting ruthlessly whilst filled with rage.  This theme is carried right through until the very unexpected ending, where you’ll see Kong consumed by his rage.

The Action & Martial Arts

This movie is one of those that has you saying ‘all movies should have action like this!’ – well me at least 🙂

The fights are fantastic, with the perfect balance of vicious speed, threatening urgency and fantastically performed martial arts techniques that are very reminiscent of a flashy MMA fight that takes place primarily standing up.  The fights are spaced evenly throughout the movie and things don’t get too stale as the format and opponents change.

The two best fights also have the two biggest names as his opponents.

A fight between Wu Jing and Xing Yu is a highlight of the movie showcasing some great acrobatic work, but the real gem of the movie is the 3 on 3 streetfight.

The format of the 3 on 3 fight is different than the other fights, but after Wu Jing’s two teammates are defeated easily. Wu Jing takes on all 3 men, one after the other, in 1 on 1 fights that just flow into one another before finally fighting off Andy On in an awesome and ferocious exchange.  Backed up by a pretty cool soundtrack that creates a serious and exciting atmosphere, the martial arts of this movie are among some of the most exciting and ranks as one of my favorite action films.

Worth a Watch?

My previous statement of ‘ranks as one of my favorite action films‘ is a pretty clear green light from me.  This movie will appeal to people who enjoy MMA style fighting in martial arts films, with a reasonably simple storyline that addresses valid themes in today’s ‘MMA’ obsessed society of martial artists.  While some people may disagree with me, I think it’s an absolute classic.

On DVD –

Region 1 (US & Canada)
Fatal Contact on DVD

Region 2 (UK, Europe, etc)
Fatal Contact [DVD]

Region 4 (Australia, New Zealand, etc)
Fatal Contact on DVD 

More info on Movie Regions here.

25 Martial Arts Movies All Fans Must See - FREE


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