Hong Kong action-movie legend Jackie Chan was an international superstar back in the late 1990s-early 2000s with crossover fare like the Rush Hour flicks, but sightings in western-made movies have been much sparser of late, apart from a supporting role in Karate Kid: Legends and the occasional bit of voicework in the never-ending Kung Fu Panda franchise. But in Asia, the 71-year-old works all the time, still doing his own stunts, as well as working as a producer and fight choreographer.
This Macau-set cops-and-robbers thriller even has a little fun by introducing him as a “retired” cop turned dog walker called Wong, surrounded by a motley pack of pooches that he marshals expertly through the streets. Once the best surveillance man on the force, Wong’s observational skills have not faded a jot, as he proves by recounting exactly which of his doggie charges pooped in what order. More importantly, he can still take on young ruffians a third of his age, and as expected he ends up doing battle with a variety of unlikely props in peculiar settings, such as a hotel laundry room and the crawlspace above a restaurant.
It’s Chan’s fisticuff scenes that make this watchable, with quite a bit to savour in a film that’s never more than 10 minutes from a fight or a shootout. Unfortunately, the connective narrative tissue is a bore, an overly complicated yarn about a criminal mastermind called the Shadow (Tony Ka Fai Leung) and his duplicitous team of thieves who steal a whatsit that allows them to access crypto, all discussed in rapid-fire dialogue that will challenge the subtitle-reading skills of viewers who don’t speak the language.
The cops, meanwhile, are overly reliant on AI supercomputers to solve crimes, which is why they need Wong to teach them how to do surveillance the old way. Likable Zifeng Zhang co-stars as a young policewoman who can pack a killer punch, and who happens to be the daughter of Wong’s now-deceased partner, killed in the line of duty because of Wong’s mistake. The sentimental flashbacks further distend a way-too-long running time, but it’s always a treat to watch Chan, even if he’s looking a little rough around the edges these days.
• The Shadow’s Edge is in UK cinemas from 3 October.
