An engaging film showing us that Jackie Chan can take on a serious non-action role. Prepare to be surprised! “Shinjuku Incident” showcases Jackie Chan like no other film in his extensive career.  Definitely a must-see for Jackie Chan fans!
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DVD TITLE: Shinjuku Incident
DURATION: 120 Minutes
DVD INFORMATION: Color, English and Chinese Dolby Digital 5.1, Widescreen (2:35:1) Anamorphic Widescreen, Subtitles: English SDH, French
COMPANY:Â Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
RATED: R (For Graphic Violence, Brief Sexuality and Drug Use)
RELEASE DATE: June 8, 2010
Written and Directed by Tung-Shing Yee (Derek Yee)
Writer: Tin Nam Chun
Story by Barbara Johns
Executive Producer: Jackie Chan, Albert Yeung
Producer: Willie Chan, Solon So
Associate Producer: Henry Fong, Norihisa Harada, Shirley Kao
Line Producer: Jamie Lunk
Supervising Producer (English Version): Bud Robertson
Music by Peter Kam
Cinematography: Nobuyasu Kita
Edited by Ka-Fai Cheung, Chi-Leung Kwong, Man To Tang
Production Design and Art Direction by Oliver Wong
Costume Design: Satoe Araki, Castillo Angelo Bernardo
Starring:
Jackie Chan as Steelhead
Naoto Takenaka as Inspector Kitano
Daniel Wu as Jie
Jinglei Xu as Xiu Xiu/Yuko Eguchi
Masaya Kato as Toshinari Eguchi
Toru Minegishi as Koichi Muranishi
Jack Kao as Gao Jie
Kenya Sawada as Nakajima
Hiroyuki Nagato as Hara Ooda
Yasuaki Kurata as Taro Watagawa
Bingbing Fan as Lily
Paul Chun as Uncle De
Suet Lam as Old Ghost
Kar Lok Chin as Hogkie
Ken Lo as Little Tai
Teddy Lin as Tai Bao
Action superstar Jackie Chan leads this tour-de-force as Steelhead, a Chinese laborer who comes to Japan hoping for a better life. Unable to find honest work and bullied into the shadows with his fellow Chinese illegal immigrants, he soon finds himself ascending as the boss of a black market mob. After providing a deadly service to a powerful Yakuza crime boss, Steelhead’s rise to mafia power spirals rapidly out of control as he’s given reign over the dangerous and lucrative Shinjuku district. Get set to root for the underdog as Jackie Chan battles Asia’s most ruthless underworld gangs in this action-packed crime drama.
Possibly for more than a decade, Jackie Chan has said that he would not do martial arts films and that he had wanted to focus on serious roles. At 57-years-old, known for one of the most versatile martial arts actors on the planet with a long resume of action films, it’s hard for many people to think of Jackie Chan taking on a serious role. It’s one thing to have non-fighting cameos (which the actor has done many of) but it’s that one role in which he can show his versatility as an actor and for the most part, that age should not limit him to such a role.
If Harrison Ford can still do action/drama films at 69-years-old, there’s no doubt that Jackie Chan can do it as well, that is if there was a film that one would give him that opportunity. And this is where actor/producer and director Derek Yee (“One Night in Mongkok”, “Lost in Time”, “Full Throttle”, “Viva Erotica”) can possibly put together. Known for taking on gangster films, Jackie Chan would take on a role which would usually see talent such as Andy Lau or Leslie Cheung take on.
And in 2007, “San suk si gin” (Shinjuku Incident) began filming and in 2009, the film was released to favorable reviews (despite not being released in mainland China due to its violence) but the film was nominated for “Best Film”, “Best Director”, “Best Cinematography” and “Best Action Choreography” for the 29th Hong Kong Film Awards.
The film takes place in the early 1990’s as Nik (played by Jackie Chan) and his fiance Xiu Xiu (played by Xu Jinglei) and his brother Joe (played by Daniel Wu) have left China by boat and with many Chinese, have entered Japan illegally.
Due to an arrival of a Japanese police officer, the Chinese all start running to different areas with many being caught except Nik who manages to find Joe (but loses Xiu Xiu) and begin living with many other Chinese who are living in Japan illegally. We see how they take on many small jobs such as a dishwasher to selling pre-paid phone cards in order to make a living and then some having to resort to theft. But for Nik, his goal is to find his fiance Xiu Xiu and have a new life in Japan.
While in Japan, Nik meets Lily (played by Fan Bingbing), a hostess bar owner who wants to help Nik and his friends learn the proper way to live in Japan. If there is one thing they are learning quickly, Japan has its share of prejudice towards Chinese and many of the Chinese are just trying to survive. Meanwhile, as Nik, Joe and their newfriends have taken odd jobs including resorting to stealing and even hacking a pachinko machine to earn products that can be sold in the black market.  Meanwhile, Inspector Kitano (played by Naoto Takenaka) and the police force have been trying to find illegal Chinese and deport them. One day, when Kitano finds Nik, Joe and others, during a pursuit, Nik manages to rescue Kitano who was about to drown in the water in an underground tunnel and Kitano feels indebted to Nik for saving his life.
Meanwhile, we learn that the yakuza families have been trying to gain control of certain parts of Japan and one day at work, Nik sees Xiu Xiu who was with one of the yakuza crime bosses named Eguichi (played by Masaya Kato). Nik who was happy to see Xiu Xiu is a bit shocked that she is with another man.
But tragedy hits Nik and his fellow Chinese when Joe is tortured, maimed and loses a body part by a yakuza boss. When Nik tries to exact revenge at the boss in his own bar, while hiding, he learns that the crime boss are planning to kill Eguchi, who he finds out is the husband of Xiu Xiu. So, as Eguchi tries to work out a deal with the yakuza crime boss, they try to kill him but Nik manages to save Eguchi’s life.
Because of the complications and politics within the yakuza organization, because Nik has saved the life of Eguchi, Eguchi makes him one of his men after Nik follows Eguchi’s plan to eliminate various yakuza crime bosses. Eguchi even gives him control of various areas previously owned by the Taiwanese gang to Nik.
In Nik’s mind, he is giving the Chinese in his area a chance to make legal income and to not worry about the yakuza and to get their legal papers to live in Japan. But Nik learns the hard way that by giving his own friends so much power, he is in effect creating his own triad whether he likes it or not.
VIDEO:
“Shinjuku Incident” is presented in 2:35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen. I have to admit that I was a bit surprised that this film was not being released on Blu-ray. It has been released in other countries in HD, and with this being a newer film, I was expecting an HD treatment for “Shinjuku Incident”. But PQ-wise, the film looks very good on DVD. I didn’t see any massive artifacting or blurring.
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
“Shinjuku Incident” is presented in English and Chinese 5.1 Dolby Digital. There is an English track with actual dubbing by Jackie Chan but the English dub is good but my preference was to watch the film in its original Chinese language. The film is dialogue driven through the front and center channels and good surround usage for crowd and action-driven scenes.
Subtitles are in English, French and English SDH.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“Shinjuku Incident” comes with the following special features:
- Selected Scenes Commentary with Jackie Chan – (8:56) Jackie Chan gives commentary for a few scenes such as the Opening Sequence, Bath House, Garbage Dump, The Tunnel and Ending Sequence. Interesting to learn that Director Derek Yee had to go to Shinjuku and ask permission from the yakuza to film there.
- Say Hello to the Bad Guy: Up Close with Jackie Chan – (10:34) Jackie Chan talks about wanting to do a film without action and wants to be like Clint Eastwood and Robert DeNiro and take on a serious role. Jackie also wanted to use the film as a message for those who try to escape to another country illegally and the risks involved and to not listen to those who tell them that they can easily escape by boat.
Jackie Chan shows us his versatility as an actor in “Shinjuku Incident”. Although known for martial arts and action films, this is a film that will showcase Jackie Chan in a way that people have never had seen of the actor. From emotional scenes, a sex scene, a nude scene and even watching Jackie taking on a role in which he’s not this one-man powerhouse but is vulnerable. In fact, it’s definitely a surreal film to see Jackie in a gangster film as one of the gangsters and even murdering people.
“Shinjuku Incident” is an exciting thriller that shows us a side of Chinese living in Japan (I have had the opportunity to visit China areas in different parts of Japan and like the film, these areas although in Japan, seem cut off from Japan and are packed with people. And there is prejudice towards Chinese (as well as other foreigners) for certain establishments in the country as well. The film was quite interesting in the yakuza culture and how a group of people resort to crime for survival but when given the power, how things can quickly become corrupted. It was a storyline that Jackie Chan learned about and wanted people to know the truth that not every foreigner who leaves their country will find a good job in another country like Japan.
Jackie Chan did a wonderful job in playing the character Nik. Chan is perfect for the role and having seen his popularity in Japan (especially a music career singing “enka”), the film manages to become a unique vehicle for him and to allow him to show his versatility as a man who is put into various emotional positions that you just don’t see in his other films. Daniel Wu was wonderful in Yee’s “One Night in Mongkok” and shows that he has grown as an actor in “Shinjuku Incident” and plays the part of Joe very well. As well as Naoto Takenaka was well-cast and especially since he is one of the more well-known talents in Japanese films and dramas, it was great to see him play opposite of Jackie Chan.
The film does has its share of pacing issues and for the most part, there are times that I thought it was modern-day film and then finding out the film was supposed to take place in the early ’90s. There are times in which I question the direction of costume design (ie. Joe and friends in punk rock and colorful outfits), especially Joe’s transformation which seemed to way out there. There are parts of the film that I wish were explained and how much time has elapsed. For example, when Nik becomes to the crime boss of his area and then flash forwarding when things have changed in that area. How much time has passed? A year, two years? And I will say that certain parts of the ending may make people look for answers online (ie. what happens to Yuko?).
But despite the pacing issues, “Shinjuku Incident” is an enjoyable film. But it all comes down to if you can accept Jackie Chan as a serious actor. There have been many people who have compared to what Jackie Chan is doing in “Shinjuku Incident” with what Jean-Claude Van Damme did on “JCVD”, in that you have two action stars wanting to show that they can do serious roles. Granted, we are used to seeing Harrison Ford, Clint Eastwood and Robert DeNiro playing a variety of roles but with Jackie Chan, his long, extensive resume is primarily him as an action star. So, I can see some people who may have a hard time with this. This is not your usual Jackie Chan film and if you have seen a good number of Hong Kong or Japanese gangster films, you know that not all protagonists get a happy ending. The same can be said of this film.
I have to say that I was shocked to see Jackie in Chan in such a role but at the same time, as a fan of his work for over three decades now, I can’t help but have a grin in my face and seeing that his dream of doing something different, in playing a non-action role has come true.
Overall, “Shinjuku Incident” does have some shortcomings in terms of plot but this is one film that Jackie Chan fans or Asian film fans can easily gravitate to. It’s very engaging and you can’t help but see how far Derek Yee and Jackie Chan would go in this film. And if this means more serious roles for Jackie Chan (hopefully all well-written), I’m all for it!