Currently in release is a Jackie Chan performance unlike any other in his 100+ film career. In SHINJUKU INCIDENT, Jackie Chan doesn’t use martial arts. He isn’t a comedic character. He isn’t even a good guy. He is frankly a thug, a gang leader and a man caught in a spiraling out of control situation that just gets nasty and bad.

In a way, Jackie Chan in SHINJUKU INCIDENT reminds me of some of the great casting against types in film history. Like Henry Fonda in ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST or Jimmy Stewart in THE NAKED SPUR – every likable trait is turned on its ear.

Jackie Chan plays a man, who has fled his native country of China and literally washes ashore in Japan, not far from Tokyo with a boatload of illegal immigrants that are attempting to find a new life in the underbelly of Tokyo. Because they know nobody in this country but each other, they bind together. Learning the games one can succeed at in the streets to get ahead. Which, of course, leads them on a path to criminal activities. These Chinese strangers become tight, they form a gang – and although Jackie’s Steelhead wants a regular life, he finds himself leading his gang. Partly to help watch out for his brother, who has no nerves or stomach for the tension of illegal life, Steelhead tries to keep his brother at arm’s length. And Jackie’s entire performance is informed by his career as a nice guy tells you he can do it. The career that we’ve all followed is the baggage we see hanging on Jackie.

But in this film, you can see the good guy in Jackie. The humble man that just wishes to lead a quiet humble life, but he keeps having to be the man that steps up to protect those around him. And not with showy martial arts. No, Steelhead can’t bounce off every surface and triple kick his opponents in the face. No, he’s the sort of thug that walks up behind you and puts a bullet in your skull. He’s the sort that gets everyone fired up to take revenge while holding steel pipes, a chunk of lumber, a machete or an axe. He will bludgeon his enemies to death.

In many ways, SHINJUKU INCIDENT feels like a 1930’s Gangster film, that is all about a charismatic young tough guy that takes the opportunity to become a big shot, but unlike all of those films that Warner Brothers put out – Jackie doesn’t relish his position. You get the idea that Jackie’s character knows that he shouldn’t be doing what he’s doing, he hates it and it seems like he knows it is all going to end badly, and yet he’s compelled to moving forward.

This isn’t a great stylistic movie, instead it is shot pretty plainly. The story is very old school, but the results are devastating. It really makes street gangs seem like a natural or organic end to people in the situation these characters find themselves in. The other actors and characters are not any better than they need to be, but Jackie is amazing. Amazing because I found myself thinking of Paul Muni as I watched Jackie Chan. Do not let this film escape your view if you’ve been a fan of Jackie Chan. This is absolutely unique in his career and if you’re a filmmaker, it could very well give one ideas about how to use Jackie differently than we’ve seen. Turns out there’s a great actor in there that doesn’t need all the astonishing physical abilities that he’s spent 4 decades exhibiting. In terms of pure acting performance, this may be his very best work.