Directed by:
Tung-shing YeeCinematography:
北信康Composer:
Peter Kam Pui-tatCast:
Jackie Chan, Naoto Takenaka, Daniel Wu Yin-cho, Jinglei Xu, Jack Kao, 加藤雅也, Yasuaki Kurata, Suet Lam, Ken Lo, Bingbing Fan, Kathy Yuen, Paul Chun, Joe Chu Cho-kuen (more)VOD (1)
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In Japan, foreign migrants are shunned by mainstream society. Taunted by the yakuza, they live in constant fear of being discovered and repatriated. Into this world ventures Steelhead (Jackie Chan), a humble tractor repairman who has traveled to Tokyo in search of his missing girlfriend, Xiu Xiu (Xu Jinglei), who vanished into thin air shortly after arriving in the city. After locating his brother Joe (Daniel Wu), Steelhead discovers that Xiu Xiu has adapted a Japanese identity and married up-and-coming yakuza chief Eguchi (Masaya Kato), with whom he forms an uneasy alliance. Over time, Steelhead earns the respect of his fellow Chinese immigrants by establishing a place for them to gather. But the dark side still beckons to Steelhead, because after helping Eguchi dispense with a powerful rival, he is granted full control of Shinjuku's most popular nightspots. Resistant to the allure of the criminal lifestyle, Steelhead discovers a new love and opens a tractor-repair business just outside the city. When Eguchi begins using Steelhead's former compatriots as pawns to front the yakuza's drug trade, the vengeful immigrant returns to the city determined to exact justice, even if it means destroying the future of the woman he once loved. (iTunes)
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Reviews (4)
It's more of a thriller/drama, there's not much action and it wasn't really worth much, it wasn't the real Jackie Chan in his skin. But the story is engaging, interesting, it's all based on gang banging and backstabbing. Surprisingly, I had a good time. 75%
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A glimpse into the problems of illegal immigrants in the form of an atmospheric crime saga that, with a squint of both eyes, can bear comparison with the legends of the genre.
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Quite unusual to see Jackie in a movie like this. You’ll find no jokes nor stunts and not even one-to-one fights. Xin Su shi jian is a thoroughbred drama about a Chinese immigrant in Japan. Similar movies (or games; GTA IV) of the same genre have been made in the US or the UK, but it’s the Asian environment that in places changes the familiar clichés. Moreover, Jackie gives a full-on performance but in a completely different way than usual. Just because of his transformation and the brilliantly escalated ending this movie is worth watching.
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Despite the solid rating on FilmBooster and numerous enthusiastic comments, I have no reason whatsoever to change my critical distance from the mainstream of Asian cinema. It is simplistic, naive, clichéd, and therefore predictable, with poor acting performances, including the main protagonist. The truth is, unlike most East Asian crime films, this is not just an action film, but there is an ambition to simultaneously create a drama with a socially critical subtext about illegal immigrants and their difficult survival. However, the result is even more ambivalent because the film is as smart as early Seagal movies, from which it mainly differs in the gesture of self-sacrifice at the very end. For me to take it seriously, many things would have to change, starting with the script, through the directorial guidance, to the selection of different actors. Overall impression: 25%. By the way, those dialogues really hurt, and if I were to watch something like that in European cinema, I would seriously consider giving it a Boo!...
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