Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Tietou/Steelhead/Nick (Jackie Chan) leaves his rural Chinese village to search for his love Xiu Xiu who had disappeared in Japan. He travels illegally on a freighter but he cannot return home after an incident. With his friend Jie/Joe, they try to survive on the fringe. He saves Detective Kitano's life in a raid. He discovers that Xiu Xiu/Yuko Eguchi had married Yakuza leader Eguchi who is more open-minded than other Yakuza. He starts to build a Chinese pretty crime family but Jie would rather have a roasted chestnut cart. Taiwanese triad leader Gao discovers tampering in his pachinko machine and savagely cuts up Jie. He sneaks in to avenge Jie but overhears a plot to kill Eguchi. He saves Eguchi's life and he is given territories to control. He tries to govern within the law and puts Jie in charge of new people. The years pass by and the gang becomes corrupt. He tries to give himself up to Kitano. Jie becomes more brutal and Yakuza boss authorizes the overthrow of Eguchi.Jackie Chan's character is way too moral. His desperate goodness feels clunky. It's nowhere near the silliness of 'Rumble in the Bronx' but the attempted grittiness is betrayed at almost every point in the story. The violence gets a little bloody but feels limited. The big action scene is the bad guys throwing rocks. I do want Jackie Chan to branch out into more gritty and less kung fu fighting action. This is not quite there although I like the attempt.

Very well made with the emphasis on the drama rather than the martial arts. Yes, there is some, but very little, I guess Jackie Chan is concentrating more on his acting these days. All the performances were very good with Jackie Chan, Naoto Takenaka and Daniel Wu (as Jie) standing out for me. It did put me in mind of films like 'Goodfells' and 'Once Upon a Time in America', maybe without the epic scope of those movies, but certainly the look and feel of them. I did find it was beginning to drag a little towards the end and I did find some of the plot lines a little predictable. Other than that, a decent watch.SteelMonster's verdict: RECOMMENDEDMy score: 7.1/10.You can find an expanded version of this review on my blog: Thoughts of a SteelMonster.

First, don't see this if you like Jacky Chan movies. Don't even read this review. Just go away. Sure, you might like it, but I think on average you are too likely to love comedy action above all else, and then you give it a bad review. Think of it instead like Goodfellas. Add a bit more of the pure immigrant story. Trying to make your way from the under-class. Crime because that's all you can do. Changing of the guard in the mob. Getting rank and power because you are reliable, getting screwed because you have some sense of morals, and try to protect your family. There is no absolutely good or evil, at all. People we hate at one moment evolved to that, and even then still act like humans. It's an epic crime family drama in every way and truly well made. Gore: Except for a few just terrible effects, Is correct for the location and genre. Just as many killings with guns would have seemed less violent due to the way firearms wounds are mostly depicted in movies. Knives and swords offer much more visible wounds, and so on. DO NOT watch a dubbed version. It's a drama. The dubbing is terrible so it is just not worth it.

Steelhead arrives in Shinjuku from China in hopes of finding the woman he loves. But his innocent world is soon tainted with crime and bloodshed as well as heartbreak.If you are expecting a Kung-Fu movie...Wrong film. This is about Jackie's acting skills, and he demonstrates that he actually is a fantastic actor who can play heart wrenching roles just as well as the Kung-Fu funny man. I honestly loved the story of Steelhead pursuit to be reunited with his lover, and when he finds out that she is with another man, he descends into the world of organised crime, threatening the Yakuza.There are flaws in the film, the second half is a let down with Daniel Wu taking on the look of a 'Rocky Horror Picture Show' character. But apart from that there is not a bad actor among the cast, everyone gives a hundred percent...Yes, there are a lot of characters, which is another flaw, but you look past that and focus on Steelhead.The last Jackie Chan movie I watched was Rush Hour 3, and I just felt that his heart was no longer in mindless fighting films..I'd seen the genius of his intellect as he combined comedy with kung-fu in his earlier films...And this has re-invented him...Good job Jackie!