''Fatal Move'' (, released in the United States as ''Triad Wars'') is a 2008

Hong Kong action film Hong Kong action cinema is the principal source of the Hong Kong film industry's global fame. Action films from Hong Kong have roots in Chinese culture, Chinese and Culture of Hong Kong, Hong Kong cultures including Chinese opera, storytelling an ...

written, produced and directed by

Dennis Law Dennis Law Sau-yiu (born 19 February 1963) is a Hong Kong film producer, screenwriter, actor, director and presenter. He is the former chairman and executive director of Milkyway Image, and a founder of its subsidiary company Point of View Mo ...

. The film stars

Sammo Hung Sammo Hung Kam-bo ( zh, t=洪金寶, j=Hung4 Gam1-bou2; born 7 January 1952) is a Hong Kong actor, martial artist, film producer and Film director, director, known for his work in martial arts films, Hong Kong action cinema, and as a fight choreog ...

Simon Yam Simon Yam Tat-wah (; born 19 March 1955) is a Hong Kong actor and film producer. He received international acclaim for his performances in international film festival and box office hits such as ''Naked Killer'', '' SPL: Sha Po Lang'', ''Election' ...

and Wu Jing, who reunite after 2005's '' SPL: Sha Po Lang''. The film focuses on a Triad gang led by brothers Lin Ho-Lung and Lin Ho-Tung (Hung and Yam), which faces a series of double crossings, and violent misfortunes. Danny Lee co-stars in the film, returning in his first feature film role after four years, once again playing a Hong Kong police officer. The film was released on 28 February 2008.

Plot

Triad boss Lin Ho-lung (Sammo Hung) is celebrating his son's first birthday, a child conceived by his mistress. The party is interrupted when

Police Inspector Inspector, also police inspector or inspector of police, is a police rank. The rank or position varies in seniority depending on the organization that uses it. Australia In Australian police forces, the rank of inspector is generally the ne ...

Liu Chi-chung (Danny Lee) arrives outside of the club with his colleagues, warning the gang to stop throwing any parties without the police's consent. Police officers raid a drug shipment involving Lin Ho-tung (Simon Yam), Lung's right-hand man and assassin, Lok Tin-hung (Wu Jing), and Wu (Ken Lo), a drug dealer. A gunfight ensues between the police and triads, resulting in Wu’s arrest. Wu remains uncooperative with the police and his wife Tracy (Pinky Cheung) talks with Lung's wife Soso (Tien Niu), threatening to have Wu expose Lung's gang if she does not receive $20 million. Later that night, Tung and Tin-hung torture Tracy, who reveals that the threat was bogus and that her secret lover coerced her into creating a lie so she could flee with him once she had received the money. The gang executes Tracy’s lover, and breaks into police headquarters to assassinate Wu. Various police officers and Triad gang members are killed as the Triads try to escape the precinct. It is revealed that Soso and gang member Law Ting-Fat are blackmailing Lung and his gang. They orchestrate a kidnapping of Lung's financial backer, Uncle Yu (Hui Shiu-hung). After receiving $200 million from Lung, Soso and Fat kill the hired kidnappers and Uncle Yu to cover their tracks. Lung and Tung eventually start a war against a rival triad gang whom they suspect is responsible for the murder. Later, Lung has a meeting with his rival, Flirt (Tam Ping-man), a gang leader who reveals he had nothing to do with Yu’s death. Tung learns about Soso and Fat's role in Yu's killing. Lung goes after the couple, resulting in a shootout. Soso and Fat's men are killed, while Tung executes Fat. Lung catches up to Soso whom he refuses to kill, after she expresses her bitterness about her inability to conceive and Lung's decision to have a child with a mistress. She is later arrested by the police. Lung and Tin-hung are trapped in a warehouse and surrounded by the police outside. Knowing that they will be unable to escape, Tin-Hung mentions that he was never convinced by the stories that claim Lung was an "invincible fighter." Lung accepts Tin-hung's challenge. The fight ends with Lung impaling Tin-hung with a pipe. While dying, Tin-hung expresses that he forgives Lung, and hopes that he will soon join him after he dies. Refusing to surrender to the police, Lung walks out of the warehouse, armed with machine guns. He intimidates the police by firing the weapons in the air, and is shot to death. While Soso is serving prison time, assassins disguised as painters slit her throat. Tung attempts to flee with Lung's mistress and their baby son. They arrive at a beach, presumably to escape via boat. Tung asks her to wait while he looks for the means of escape. A person approaches the mistress and her son. Separately, someone also walks up to Tung, who closes his eyes. A gun with a silencer is shown. The film ends with the words: "those who follow their destiny meet with sorrows, while those who resist their destiny meet with death."

Cast

as Lin Ho-lung *

as Lin Ho-tung *

Tien Niu Tien Niu (; born 23 January 1958) is a Taiwanese actresses. Tien's birth name is Chu Kai-li. She won the Golden Horse Award for Best Leading Actress at the 15th Golden Horse Awards in 1978, and was shortlisted for the same prize during the 19th ...

as Leung Yuet-lin / Soso * Carisa Yan as Lisa * Danny Lee as Senior Inspector Liu Chi-chung *

Maggie Shiu Maggie Shiu (born February 27, 1965) is a prominent Hong Kong actress. Career Her career began in 1985 when she joined Hong Kong TVB. As her career developed, she took on variety of roles in TV series and movies. Hong Kong audiences still remember ...

as Inspector Janet Liu Mei-chun * Wu Jing as Lok Tin-hung *

Cheung Siu-fai Cheung Siu-fai (; born 4 February 1963), also known as Eddie Cheung, is a Hong Kong actor. He is best known for his many supporting or everyman roles similar to Liu Kai-chi Dick Liu Kai-chi (, 30 September 1953 – 28 March 2021) was a Hon ...

as Law Ting-fat *

Ken Lo Ken Lo (Kenneth Houi Kang Low) (born 19 March 1957) is a Hong Kong actor, martial artist, and stuntman. He is known for his martial arts and stunt work as a former member of the Jackie Chan Stunt Team, most notably for his antagonistic role as Jo ...

as Lau Kwok-wai / Wu *

Hui Shiu-hung Benz Hui Shiu-hung (born 4 November 1948) is a Hong Kong film and TV actor. Hui is credited with over 165 films. Hui is a currently a TV actor with TVB. Early life and family Hui comes from an influential family in Canton. His great-grandfather ...

as 'Uncle' Tong Lai-yu * Fung Hak-on as 'Uncle' Li Chun-tong *

Johnny Lu Johnny Lu (, born May 8, 1977) is an American-Taiwanese actor. Life and career Lu was born in Taipei City, Taiwan. His father, , was one of the founding members of the Bamboo Union triad in Taiwan. Lu's parents divorced, and then at the age ...

as Jacky Ho Wing-kit * Pinky Cheung as Tracy *

Lam Suet Lam Suet (; born 1964), or Lin Xue, is a Hong Kong film actor. Life and career Lam was born in Tianjin, and came to Hong Kong as a youth in 1979 to receive inheritance money left by his grandfather. Soon after, all the money had been squander ...

as Wong Shu-chor / 'Fat Ball' *

Wong Tin-lam Wong Tin-Lam (1927–2010) was a Chinese screenwriter, producer, director, and actor, who has contributed to the Hong Kong cinema scene with a career spanning six decades. He has made films in Cantonese, Mandarin and Amoy dialect. Career Wong ...

as Ma Wing-ying / Uncle Dee * Tam Ping-man as Flirt Lok Ki-cheong *

Jacky Heung Jacky Heung Cho () is a Hong Kong actor. He is the elder son of film producer/presenter Charles Heung and his wife Tiffany Chen Tiffany Chen Ming-Yin (born January 15, 1959) is a Hong Kong administrative film producer, agent and investor. ...

as Kwok Chi-hang * Anthony Carpio as Lung's Man (''uncredited'') * Chan Tat-kwong as Soso's Man (''uncredited'')

Production

''Fatal Move'' reunites writer, producer and director

, with initially the same crew and several actors he used to make the 2006 film '' Fatal Contact''. The film is a Hong Kong production distributed by China Star Entertainment Group, and also produced by One Hundred Years of Film Co. Ltd., along with Law's production company Point of View Movie Production Co. Ltd. The film was executive produced by

Charles Heung Charles Heung Wah-keung ( zh, c=向華強) is a Hong Kong actor-turned-film producer and presenter. As founder of Win's Entertainment in the 1980s and China Star Entertainment Group in the 1990s, he has helped established the careers of vario ...

, whose son

appears in the film in a supporting role. Acclaimed Hong Kong filmmaker

Herman Yau Herman Yau Lai-to (; born 13 July 1961) is a Hong Kong people, Hong Kong film director, screenwriter and cinematographer. Filmography * 1987: ''Tragic Hero'' – Co-Cinematographer * 1987: ''No Regret (1987 film), No Regret'' – Director * ...

, who has frequently collaborated with Law and Heung, served as a cinematographer, while Nicky Li, a member of the

Jackie Chan Stunt Team The Jackie Chan Stunt Team (), also known as Jackie Chan's Stuntmen Association, is a group of stuntmen and martial artists who work alongside Jackie Chan. Founded in the 1970s, it initially included Hong Kong action stuntmen and martial artist ...

served as a fight and stunt choreographer. ''Fatal Move'' was shot with a budget of HK$20 million. Law originally wanted the film to be a

sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

to '' SPL: Sha Po Lang'', which would focus on the

character for that film. Law then realized that the

prequel A prequel is a literary, dramatic or cinematic work whose story precedes that of a previous work, by focusing on events that occur before the original narrative. A prequel is a work that forms part of a backstory to the preceding work. The term " ...

sequel idea had limited potential, especially when he wanted to show the relationship between the Sammo Hung and Wu Jing characters from ''SPL''. Though it has themes similar to ''SPL'', and reunites Wu Jing and Sammo Hung, Law’s ''Fatal Move'' is a completely original work. For his film, Law wanted to set his sights on

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

n audiences, by assembling a cast of familiar

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

s that are best known to them, such as

and Danny Lee. Law believes that the

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; a ...

scenes are the strongest asset of ''Fatal Move'', in particular, the major weapon fight scene between Sammo Hung and Wu Jing. Filming occurred for two months in Hong Kong, beginning with production inauguration on 1 August 2007.

Release

Category III rating

The film was awarded a Category III rating for its excessive amount of violence. The film was not given a release in

Mainland China "Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...

, since Law refused to compromise by editing a tamer version that conforms to their strict

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...

Home media

DVD was released in Region 2 in the United Kingdom on 31 August 2009, it was distributed by Cine Asia.

References

External links

* {{Dennis Law 2008 films 2008 martial arts films 2008 action thriller films 2000s Cantonese-language films China Star Entertainment Group films Films directed by Dennis Law Hong Kong films about revenge Hong Kong action thriller films Hong Kong martial arts films Police detective films Triad films 2000s Hong Kong films