One of the Year's Best Action Movies
Summary
The Shadow’s Edge is a genuine return to form for Jackie Chan and it’s astounding to see him moving so well at 71 years of age. He still does all his own stunts and fights and there is some jaw dropping action on display. The first half is a little slow at times (but not really) but the second half is action movie heaven. It’s got some incredible fight scenes and the film is at its best with Chan and Leung are facing off against each other. This is a must see and proves that age is only a number.
Plot: When a cyber-criminal gang disappears with billions, evading capture by outsmarting the Police’s formidable “Sky Eye” surveillance system, they desperately enlist the help of a legend. Wong Tak-Chung (Jackie Chan), a retired tracking expert, mentors rookie officer He Qiuguo (Zhang Zifeng, Aftershock, Upcoming) and rebuilds an elite surveillance unit. Their mission: to track down the elusive “Wolf King,” Fu Longsheng (Leung Ka Fai Tony, Election, Cold War), the mastermind behind the heist. As the police close in, the thieves spring a trap of their own. Brains clash, loyalties are tested, and the ultimate cat-and-mouse game is about to begin…
Review: I’ve been so looking forward to The Shadow’s Edge as it looked like it was going to be Jackie Chan in grittier fare than he usually does. For me, his last great film was The Foreigner, and I was hoping this would be of a similar ilk. The Shadow’s Edge doesn’t disappoint and is Jackie Chan at his absolute best. It’s hard to believe this man is in his 70’s as he doesn’t shy away from doing his own stunts and fight scenes. We see he still suffers for his art with the always entertaining outtakes during the end credits and it just makes me respect him even more.
The Shadow’s Edge starts off with an ingenious heist sequence that is incredibly stylized and endlessly cool. The pacing does slow down a little after that as the plot establishes Chan’s character, Wong as he trains a new on the ground surveillance team as they try to capture a mysterious thief known as Fu Longsheng AKA The Shadow (a mesmerizing Tony Ka Fai Leung).
Wong and The Shadow are analogue men in a digital age as the police and thieves use modern technology including AI to do their jobs however, sometimes the old methods work the best and it all builds up to a satisfying and bloody showdown.
It’s around the hour and 15-minute mark that The Shadow’s Edge springs to life and it’s worth the wait. When the action hits it goes for the jugular with some incredible fight scenes, stunt work and real explosions.
One of the other main characters is Zifeng Zhang who plays rookie cop, He Qiuguo; the male offers don’t think she has what it takes to do the job, but Wong sees that she takes after her late father and is a fighter. He then brings her along on the team and she sees that working in the field is hard, but ultimately worthwhile.
Leung steals the show as the year’s best villain; Fu/The Shadow is a ruthless killer who will remove anyone in his way and is a master with knives. This leads to multiple fight scenes and like Chan he is a revelation that he can still move the way he does. I sprained my ankle three times just watching this movie…
Make sure to watch all of the end credits as it does tease a potential sequel which I think we’d all be happy to see if it’s of such a high caliber as the first film.
This is Chan’s most violent movie in many years and celebrates its R rating with brutal knife fights and beatdowns. Despite that the story still has heart where we care about our leads and truly love to hate The Shadow.
Overall, The Shadow’s Edge is Jackie Chan’s best film in years and is also one of this year’s finest action pictures. I would love to see Chan do a few more movies like this but surely at 71 years old he has to slow down eventually, right?
Trinity CineAsia presents The Shadow’s Edge in UK and Irish cinemas from 3rd October