Jackie Chan Returns to Action Movie Greatness in New Crime Thriller That Is Now Dominating Everything

The hunt is on as martial arts icon Jackie Chan returns to action thriller glory. Finally released in the United States and elsewhere at the end of August after debuting in China earlier in the month, the action thriller finds Chan leaving comedy behind in favor of a crime drama that follows a retired police officer with skills in tracking to help catch a dangerous group of professional thieves.

Titled The Shadow’s Edge, the action outing is now dominating the box office in both China and globally. The movie, which features Jackie Chan’s long-awaited return to the world of serious action crime thrillers, held firm at the top of the charts in China, grossing RMB189.1 million ($26.3 million) for a running total of RMB878 million ($121.9 million), according to Variety, as well as topping the global chart.

Written and directed by Larry Yang, The Shadow’s Edge is, in fact, a remake of the 2007 Hong Kong action thriller Eye in the Sky. The Shadow’s Edge was finally given a limited release in the U.S. on August 22, and finds Jackie Chan back in action alongside Zhang Zifeng, Tony Leung Ka-fai, and Ci Sha, as well as Jun, Xing Yu, and Yuen Qiu. You can check out the official synopsis and trailer for The Shadow’s Edge below…

“The legend returns — Jackie Chan is back on the front line, facing off against criminal mastermind (Leung Ka Fai Tony) and his elite ‘Wolf Pack’ in a full-throttle war of shadows and strategy.”

‘The Shadow’s Edge’ Boasts a Near-Perfect Score on Rotten Tomatoes

While you would think that Jackie Chan’s triumphant return to the crime thriller genre would be a huge deal, The Shadow’s Edge has flown surprisingly under the radar. The movie does not even have enough reviews tallied on Rotten Tomatoes to constitute a “score,” but many of the reviews that have emerged heap praise on Chan’s comeback, as well as Tony Leung Ka-Fai as the villain of the piece. Avi Offer of NYC Movie Guru declared The Shadow’s Edge “One of the most suspenseful, intriguing and exhilarating crime thrillers since Infernal Affairs,” while Casey Chong of Casey’s Movie Mania gave the action thriller a near-perfect 4/5, calling it “A return to form Jackie Chan and a scene-stealing Tony Leung Ka-Fai lead Larry Yang’s gritty action thriller.”

Lastly, Paul Bramhall of City on Fire celebrates Chan’s return to the genre, and cannot wait to see if more adventures are in store; “…with 8 years having passed since The Foreigner, which is Chan’s most comparable tonally, hopefully we don’t have to wait as long for another similar effort (not least because he’d be almost 80!). With a post-credits scene hinting at the strong possibility of a sequel, the odds might just be in our favour.”

But while there may be no critics’ score, there is an audience one, with The Shadow’s Edge also dominating the review aggregator site and boasting a hugely impressive 96% on the Popcornmeter. “Jackie Chan is back! and this time has delighted me with a solid performance by him, his nemesis (Tony Leung), and his whole crew. His not the king of action for nothing!” declares Rotten Tomatoes user Xiban Yae, with Zyxed V calling it “> than all Mission Impossible movies.”