Bleeding Steel

The plot-light nature of Bleeding Steel wouldn't be so vexing if the film's tone and story didn't seemingly shift at random.

At 64, Mr. Chan is still the most talented and witty athlete in cinema.

A film so brazen in its desire to reach a wide audience that it plays like a compilation of disparate action set pieces, each shamelessly stolen from successful Hollywood franchises.

In theory, this is some kind of tongue-in-cheek science fiction action caper, but Zhang proceeds as if his goal were to keep us in the dark for as long as possible as to what the story is about.

Features all the zesty fights, slick effects and goofy slapstick one expects from a Jackie Chan family movie ... though the film's corny cyberpunk pastiche appeals exclusively to kids.

Bleeding Steel is all about old-school thrills, and Zhang has delivered a wide range of them, from cafeteria catfights to expansive pyrotechnics - with not just one but two crotch-kicking gags thrown in for good measure.

Jackie Chan is credited as "Excetutive Producer" [sic] in the opening credits. That pretty much tells you the amount of effort that went into this film, because Bleeding Steel is one of the worst films in Jackie Chan's career.

With cartoonish villains who seem to have wandered in from a rogue superhero movie, the mixed milieus of police drama, sci-fi actioner, father-daughter relationship movie and special effects showcase don't remotely come together.

Maybe this title is to Jackie Chan as Moonraker was to James Bond, an extravagant attempt to imitate the box office fare of its time, which only highlighted the throwback quality of the central character. It's a "jump the shark" moment.

Through its bonkers setup alone, Bleeding Steel feels like a cocaine-fueled fever dream.