Film: The Shadow’s Edge

In a lacklustre year for cinema, this film arrives as a welcome surprise. From the opening sequence it establishes a relentless pace.

When a slick criminal gang executes a seemingly impossible robbery, the police are left perplexed. The gang stays one step ahead of all their combined technology and skills with unnerving precision. Enter Jackie Chan, playing a retired 'king of surveillance' who's coaxed back into action. His weapon? Old-school methods of watching and listening, the kind of patient, intuitive tradecraft that no algorithm can replace.

From there, the film becomes a satisfying blend of high-tech thriller, propulsive action, and Chan's trademark humour.

Mission Impossible meets martial arts, if you please.

As someone who'll always watch a film set in Hong Kong, I was treated to an added bonus: this one takes us across the water to Macau.

8/10