The trailer promised action--more action than I could shake a chopstick at. This film didn't have any though. It was a long, boring police drama based on a true story (supposedly) of a high profile kidnapping in which Chan plays a relentless cop. It's dialog heavy and the acting is terrible.

On one hand, as a Jackie Chan film, it's easily among his worst, and I can't understand why people like it so much. I've come to expect over-the-top action, stunts and fighting with amazing set pieces from his films. This was a bit of a departure from his other films at the time as he played a darker and more serious realistic character. That doesn't mean it's good. He's played a darker character in other films where it totally works. Here it's just a waste of talent.

As a police drama, it fails as well because the story is cliched and dull. It's also mostly a failure as an action film--until the end, that is, where it earns that extra half a star.

I recommend watching this like a porn: just fast forward through all the talking and watch the action. Basically, skip the first 4/5ths of this movie until you get to the end--and even then, it's barely worth your time. The action and set-pieces scattered throughout were weak for the most part and nothing you haven't seen. It's not until the very end that we finally get to see some classic JC--it's pretty clear which scenes he directed.

Even when things were exploding everywhere and the story had reached its ultimate climax, I was catching myself drifting off and just thinking about how Jackie Chan's hair kept changing length throughout the film, as though they had to do a bunch of reshoots or else they shot it out of sequence. That's probably why it felt so uneven.

Ultimately I'd say skip it, but most people out there seem to think this is some quality genius work. I'm a Jackie Chan enthusiast, but his comedic energy isn't what was missing here--what was missing was a good movie. There's literally nothing worth seeing that they don't show in the trailer. I'd suggest picking up "New Police Story" for a better example of a darker side of Chan, or "Thunderbolt" for some of the most fantastic stunts in a Chan film ever (just try to ignore the actual car racing scenes) instead.

The biggest problem is perhaps the most obvious one: budget. This movie clearly has lofty cinematic aspirations, but only a television bankroll. Some of the more elaborate scenes end up looking very "Land of the Lost"--in other words, cheesy. The Japanese have pretty active imaginations, so they don't always require things to look fantastic and their effects don't always have to be special.

This movie moves pretty slowly, trying to build tension, but the story is so absurd that it seems more like a fantasy than a horror film.

Basically, it's about a guy who is a complete social leper--he carries around a video camera and is obsessed with documenting everything and then reviewing it. He finds himself in some underworld where he finds a naked chick chained up. He takes her home like an adopted homeless cat and discovers she's a vampire--this doesn't bother him at all.

Eventually, of course, he discovers she requires blood to survive, so he starts feeding his stray naked kitty vampire lady on his own at first -then on other animals he finds or kills. Eventually he starts bringing her blood from the human animals he murders.

There's more to it than that, but I'm not going to give it completely away... It's an okay story--the execution just isn't there. They needed to put this in the hands of a more creative director or perhaps have given it a larger budget. Either way, it's just going to end up being okay. There's nothing really scary about it and all the gore is just red syrup and squishy noises--more laughable than horrific.

I suggest passing on this one.

This would normally be an anime instead of a live-action film, but it's accomplished here with style... the only problem is - it's a bit of a mess. It's also somewhat dull in spite of being a pretty wild ride. Similar to my problems with the Harry Potter movie, there are long scenes showcasing some effect that end up just being annoyingly long sequences where someone spends 20 minutes with a surprised look on their face.

The story here is pretty dumb and it really seems like a style over substance sort of affair... a little more humor would've been nice - especially since it's a Miike film. Rather disappointing overall, but entirely watchable and moderately entertaining.