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RATING:  
SINGAPORE: Trying to break away from the typical Hong Kong crime flick by tackling a controversial topic - the lives of illegal Chinese workers in Japan - director Derek Yee ("One Night in Mongkok") has action hero Jackie Chan as Steelhead, a repairman who illegally enters Japan to search for his missing girlfriend.
In Japan, he is plunged into the shady world of crime and poverty, where survival matters above all. But his struggle to retain his decency becomes tough when he is unwittingly drawn into the realm of the Yakuza.
Yee, despite good intentions, oscillates between moralistic preaching, sombre emotions, extreme violence and bleak cynicism, failing to gel it all into a cohesive whole.
With the help of an impressive Japanese supporting cast, he only manages to sporadically blend the opposing worlds of action and drama. The major problem? The first half of quiet unfolding storytelling just doesn’t quite mesh with the dark, grittier second half of hyper-realised violence and harsh editing.
Chan finally sheds his Mr Nice guy image for an edgier role, which he delivers respectably but never quite in the career-defining way he most likely was hoping it would be. Instead, it is the women (Xu Jinglei and Fan Bingbing) who shine, especially when the film is caught up in its own verbosity.
That said, "Shinjuku Incident" still worth a watch - if only to see Chan’s and co-star Daniel Wu’s bare bottoms, side by side. - TODAY/sh
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