- Director: Ringo Lam
- AMG Rating:
- Genre: Crime
- Movie Type: Action Thriller, Gangster Film
- Themes: Femmes Fatales, Dangerous Friends, Haunted By the Past
- Main Cast: Chow Yun-Fat
- Release Year: 1992
- Country: HK
- Run Time: 98 minutes
Plot
Another entry into the "cheer for the most likeable bad guy" series of Hong Kong action flicks, Full Contact tells the oft-told tale of betrayal and revenge, but serves it up as a potent cocktail of Western convention mixed with the trademarked Hong Kong style. When Jeff's (Hong Kong superstar Chow Yun Fat in true hard-case form) friend Sam (Anthony Wong) steps on the feet of a local loan shark, Jeff comes to his rescue, creating a powerful enemy in the vengeful gangster. Seeking to skip town and make good, the two hatch a plan to hijack an arms shipment with the help of Sam's flamboyant and malicious cousin Judge (a delightfully sleazy Simon Yam) and his gang of dysfunctional thugs. What Jeff doesn't know is that he's being double-crossed by the wild group of brutal killers, who plan to bury him as they make their getaway. Judge forces Sam to off his loyal friend Jeff, but Sam botches the job, leaving Jeff to return for bitter revenge after dealing with an emotionally painful betrayal and a physically challenging rehabilitation. Director Ringo Lam foregoes the melodrama of Hong Kong counterpart John Woo and goes straight for the jugular with unremittingly stark and graphic violence. At the same time, the characters retain a certain amount of sympathy, keeping their relationships and reactions realistic and identifiable.~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Review
Grim, stark portrayal of honor, bloodshed, and betrayal among gangsters is to director Ringo Lam's oeuvre what Hard-Boiled is to John Woo's. Frequently outrageous and over the top, Full Contact is nonetheless a well made film that helps set the standard for the genre. Though comparisons to Woo (like that made above) are inevitable, especially because of Chow Yun-Fat in the lead role, Lam is a different kind of director and, accordingly, Full Contact is a different sort of beast. Although it opens with a robbery that rapidly turns into a shoot-'em-up, there's none of the balletic, elegant violence that characterizes Woo and his imitators. When the camera lingers over the carnage, it's not a lovingly choreographed sweep; structured like a Western, Full Contact might be Hong Kong's answer to Sam Peckinpah. And unlike in Chow's films for Woo, for which he is best known in the West, there's little that's noble about Chow's character in this one; he's heroic only by comparison to the psychotic gangsters he takes down one by one. Fortunately, Chow is up to the challenge of portraying a character of questionable morals in an honorable light, and Anthony Wong and Ann Bridgewater, respectively playing his best friend and wife, are equally top-notch. Three-dimensional characters are almost a bonus in a film like this, but the cast helps raise Full Contact head and shoulders above its counterparts. Lam's direction is excellent as well; his fine control of the action and pacing keeps the film from peaking too soon, and even a bullet's-eye view during a climactic shoot-out in a nightclub works in the movie's favor. The level of violence makes most of what Hollywood produces tame by comparison; then again, Full Contact is also a far better film, that belongs on the must-watch list of any fan of the genre. ~ Genevieve Williams, All Movie GuideCast
- Chow Yun-Fat - Jeff
