I can forgive familiar and predictable (and in a couple instances, contradictory) strains in the narrative, recognizable from a wealth of fighting movies over the years. I can forgive the contrived trope of a bad guy maintaining a secret base of operations in the middle of nowhere; the rich and powerful are uniformly terrible people, and sadly, there's nothing they can't do. Less easy to overlook are the pointless racism and homophobia in the dialogue, and the gauche, overcooked Tough Guy acting of many in the cast, not least Douglas O'Keeffe, but also including star Jeff Wincott. More difficult still to abide are repetition at the halfway mark of the same speech that opened the film; the use and overuse of slow motion in the weirdest of places; odd choices of sequencing and pacing that chop up any scene, those of action not least; and decisions made about dialogue, characters, and direction that also dampen the potential for and of fight scenes. Even still, none of this completely discounts the possibility of deriving entertainment from 'Fatal combat,' also known as 'No exit,' but it impresses upon us right away that at best there's no especial reason to watch this over any of its brethren.
The screenplay can claim a little bit of cleverness, mostly in the ideas behind a couple of the combat scenarios, though not all, and definitely NOT in the dialogue. The production design and art direction are just fine, and I appreciate what footage we get of the desolate but pretty environs outside the primary setting. Ken Greer's music ranges from "not bad" to bland and generic. Would that we got more actual fights in this action-thriller, because a preponderance of the runtime is just posturing that's too dull to even be laughable - and while indeed there are common threads in the narrative, as a whole it's light and weak, without nearly the vitality to keep one actively invested in and of itself. Wait, why was it, again, that I watched this? I honestly don't know.
Let me be blunt: this is boring. It lacks meaningful action, fighting, or thrills of any kind even on paper, and its construction further hamstrings what small measures we do get. It's poorly written, directed, and acted, and I kind of feel bad for all involved, not least Guylaine St. Onge, who somehow got roped into this to portray the only named female character, and the crew, whose contributions are perhaps the most respectable of the whole picture. Whatever it is you think you might get out of this, I regret to inform that you are mistaken. While it's not the worst thing you'll ever watch, there's simply not enough value here to justify watching 'Fatal combat.' Just keep browsing.
