Skiptrace

★★☆☆☆

Casting seasoned comedy action superstar Jackie Chan within a largely English-speaking production reflects the actor’s keen interest in exporting China and the Chinese culture abroad. Instead of trash-talker Chris Tucker, this time Chan is paired with Johnny Knoxville (of Jackass fame) onscreen to produce some good chemistry and banter in action comedy Skiptrace.

The bad news is that it is the only notable merit of Renny Harlin’s film.

Based on film material scripted by a team of relatively inexperienced writers (Jay Longino and BenDavid Grabinski), the film’s proceedings fail to captivate viewers with exaggerated simple liners and eye-rolling clichés. For a comedy to work, the gags and humour have to at least relate well with the audience, if not witty. This is sadly not the case.

Thankfully, the Chan-Knoxville formula seems to work relatively well where they helped to stretch the value of the mediocre screenplay as far as they can.

When comedy is lacking, Skiptrace then relies on Chan’s choreographed action set pieces. Keeping true to his signature traits, Chan and his team of stuntmen remain dedicated to their craft instead of opting for visual effects. While there appears to be some painstakingly planned spectacular action, it is however hindered by the film’s editing techniques that drastically reduced the impact of action.

This was observed in a grand action scene where Chan navigates his way through a row of stilt houses in Hong Kong fishing town Tai-O as they collapse in series. It would have been a stellar scene and sight in a Chan film, but not quite so in Skiptrace.

Two female action stars played by ex-professional wrestler Eve Torres and Zhang Lanxin could have been effective additions to the male-dominated genre. It is a pity that the screenplay restricted their roles in the film.

The intention of featuring Chinese/Asian landscapes and cultures is evident in Skiptrace. What puzzles one is the rationale behind the choice of language used for the film, where people in Hong Kong converse in English with the occasional switch to Mandarin. This makes an even more stark contrast when natives in Russian and Mongolia are allowed to speak in their own languages with the occasional switch to English.

Nevertheless, the opportunity to witness Chan and Knoxville journey through Central and North Asian territories on an adventure that would have been so much more entertaining if not for the limited screenplay. There is a fun scene where Chan inspires a whole Mongolian tribe to sing along to the tunes of “Rolling in the Deep”.

With the exception of Chinese actress Fan Bing Bing, who portrays a good amount of magnetic screen appeal and performance, the rest of the casting choices are debatable. For instance, Chan’s eventual love interest was too jarring for acceptance.

Despite the potential of the adventures of Chan and Knoxville, Skiptrace is sadly dismissed as another commercial exercise of Chinese film market exploitation.

Also published on InCinemas.sg