Renny Harlin was once considered an ace action director but those heydays ('DieHard 2', 'Cliffhanger') are long since past or so it seems. This good-cop, bad-sidekick buddy movie that hopes to gain it's acceptance from the potential sparks that could fly between the Asian-American buddy team is yet another misfire from the Jackie Chan factory that was aiming for universal appeal but ends up losing out entirely
'Skiptrace'
U/A; Action, Comedy
Director: Renny Harlin
Cast: Jackie Chan, Johnny Knoxville, Fan Bingbing, Eric Tsang, Michael Wong, Zhang Lan-Xin, Eve Torres, Winston Chao
Rating: 
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Renny Harlin was once considered an ace action director but those heydays ('DieHard 2', 'Cliffhanger') are long since past or so it seems. This good-cop, bad-sidekick buddy movie that hopes to gain it's acceptance from the potential sparks that could fly between the Asian-American buddy team is yet another misfire from the Jackie Chan factory that was aiming for universal appeal but ends up losing out entirely. The action is knee-jerk stuff, the narration is incredibly boring and the drama is so tepid and lukewarm that it becomes hopelessly tedious and insufferable for all through it's never-ending (that's what it seems like) runtime.
Watch the trailer of 'Skiptrace'
Though Jackie Chan appears supremely fit even at 60 plus, his speed and power are questionable. A sense of fatigue has overtaken the hallmark eager-beaver energy. Especially when pitted against much more younger, agile and powerfully outfitted adversaries. Filmed largely in China, 'Skiptrace' is fashioned on the lines of Jackie Chan's breakout movies where he is paired with a wisecracking American( in this case Johnny Knoxville) who may not always help him out of a tight situation.
Hong Kong detective Bennie Chan (Jackie Chan) is unable to get over the death of his partner Yung (Eric Tsang) and takes his role as godfather to the latter's daughter, Samantha (Bingbing Fab) quite seriously. So when fast-talking American gambler Connor Watts (Johnny Knoxville) gets her in trouble, Bennie sets out to find him and bring him back to Hong Kong for his comeuppance. So they traipse all across China, partaking in cultural fests and traditional events before doing a stint in the Gobi desert and finally returning back to the scene of the original crime. To add to the intrigue there's this crime boss called 'The Matador' who Bennie has been trying hard throughout his career, to out. But all Bennie's efforts to-date have been quite without solid incorruptible evidence. So he may not be onto the right guy for all you know.
The film begins quite decently with Bennie, in the midst of a raid on drugs being packaged in a stilt house ends up being outed by a dog and in turn has to escape a domino like effect – which renders all his efforts useless. But from there on it's steadily downhill. Johnny Knoxville's obnoxious presence can do little to liven things up and the action, though handy and swift, doesn't quite make the grade of thrilling. Recycled gags, irritating attempts at 'frenemities' and sorry-faced slap stick make for a tedious, unpalatable yarn. There's really nothing interesting going on here. Even Chan's action looks repetitive and uninventive. He has been there and done that multiple times. There's little energy in the action and absolutely no synergy in the brashness on display. There isn't any chemistry between the two lead players – neither Chan nor Knoxville can generate sparks off each other. So without the sparks everything goes insipid.
China is well represented but the story is not. The screenplay goes haywire trying to manufacture complexity where there can plausibly be none. In fact you begin to wonder why Chan goes through the motions so steadfastly even when there's no sparkle in the script. It does seem like he is desperately seeking to keep his brand alive in the public consciousness but to what avail? This kind of inept, flat attempt at action comedy will only sully his image further. This film doesn't even amuse leave alone entertain. There can be little return (even if hypothesized) on that!
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