If there is any movie that you might want to see, it is likely to be a film that you are told you cannot see. If that forbidden movie also happened to be an action film, with one of the most beloved and successful action stars in the world, then I’d say banning the film will drive revenues through the roof.
Such is the case with the latest film with Jackie Chan.
The film is Shinjuku Incident and it is not the usual Jackie Chan fare. This is a violent film, with Chan playing way-off of type. He’s not a hero cop or sweet good guy. He is a Chinese refugee in Japan, and working for the Yakuza or similar mob as a killer. And the film is being called more of a drama than an action film.
People lose hands, stabbed and shot in the most vicious of ways. It is because of this dark tone, and the violence that the film will not clear Chinese movie restrictions. (It could also be the fact that Chan is a Chinese refugee in Japan – an old social issue going back at least to WWII) Yet Chan himself describes the film as a drama far more than an action film.
This film will be release throughout Southeast Asia, and I have no doubt it will do well. It was filmed with a $25 million dollar budget – equivalent to a $100 million Hollywood blockbuster. It has Jackie Chan, Naoto Takenaka, Xu Jinglei, Daniel Wu, Fan Bingbing, and Ken Watanabe (maybe best known in America for The Last Samurai with Tom Cruise). And now it has the news it is too violent for China. How can they not make money on this film?
I have found a trailer, with translations in it. I suggest watching it twice, the first time reading the trailer, the second just watching it. From the looks of it I saw it will be a good film. And it may be the first film starring Chan in which he dies. It’s a bold move for him to try drama (if that is what this actually is), but a far better bet than say Sylvester Stallone or Vin Diesel doing comedy.
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