Skiptrace – Jue di tao wang (2016)

Directed by: Renny Harlin | 107 minutes | action, adventure, comedy | Actors: Jackie Chan, Johnny Knoxville, Fan Bingbing, Eric Tsang, Eve Torres, Winston Chao, Jeong-hun Yeon, Shi Shi, Michael Wong, Dylan Kuo, Zoe Zhang, Wei Na, Charlie Rawes, Michael Gor, Sara Maria Forsberg

Although film director Renny Harlin and Jackie Chan (real name: Chan Kong-sang) first collaborated on ‘Skiptrace’ in 2016, they have a shared history dating back to the mid-90s. first offered to Renny Harlin but he didn’t have time for it then. Then, in the late 90s, he and Jackie talked about another project, “Nosebleed.” Here, Jackie Chan would play a window cleaner at the World Trade Center and perform his well-known stunts at great heights. But when, in September 2001, the WTC became involved in a terrorist attack, the project ended. However, it didn’t stop there. Jackie Chan had the idea for years to make a Chinese road movie where he travels through China and experiences different things. He called this his love letter to China because he wanted to emphasize the diversity of nature and culture. He sent the script to Renny Harlin who, after a few changes, thought it was worth turning into a film. And so ‘Jue di tao wang’, or ‘Skiptrace’, was created.

The film begins in Macau, China. Bennie Chan (Jackie Chan) has been chasing The Matador, an unknown mysterious crime boss who he blames for the death of his colleague and friend Yung (Eric Tsang) for ten years. Bennie believes that The Matador is, in reality, a well-known businessman, Victor Wong (Winston Chao). When Yung’s daughter Samantha Bai (Fan Bingbing), also Bennie’s goddaughter, becomes involved in Victor Wong’s criminal gang, Bennie must track down Connor Watts (Johnny Knoxville), who can lead him to Victor Wong. Connor witnessed the murder of a woman, committed by Victor Wong. Bennie, with the help of Connor, tries to prove that Victor Wong is actually The Matador, the murderer of his friend Yung.

Connor Watts is an American who has been banned from Chinese casinos for large scale scams. However, before Bennie can reach Connor, a Russian crime boss has him kidnapped to Russia by his gang, led by a Siberian beauty. Connor has left the Russian’s daughter pregnant and she wants him to take responsibility. Bennie rescues Connor from the trigger-happy hands of the Russians to take Connor to China. Connor, who doesn’t want to be used as a pawn by anyone, burns Bennie’s passport so that he can no longer travel. This forces Bennie to take Connor overland to Hong Kong and the two begin a journey via Mongolia to China.

The story is a complex excuse for Jackie Chan to display his acrobatics on the white screen. Unfortunately, he doesn’t do anything new and it’s a repetition of his old formula of improv-fighting where he mainly uses the environment, and what is at hand, to take out his opponent, in mostly comical ways. In this he is assisted by the clumsily effective Johnny Knoxville (‘Jackass’, ‘Bad Grandpa’), who tries to get the film a comic ear with his characteristic ‘Jackass’ smile and facial expression. Their lives are made difficult by the beautiful but lethal black leather-clad Dasha, played by Eve Torres, a former professional wrestler. Dasha is a Siberian criminal charged with taking Connor to Russia. Fan Bingbing, known for ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’, the Chinese version of ‘Iron Man 3′ (note: she can’t be seen in the international version) and tax evasion, mainly plays a minor role as damsel- in distress’. Her acting is not exactly radiant and therefore does not really stand out. With the addition of Wong’s criminal gang, Bennie and Connor have their hands full and plenty of reasons to provide the viewer with extended fight scenes and comedic one-liners.

It was Jackie Chan’s idea to take the viewer to Mongolia and parts of China that are quite beautiful. Jackie also shows his musical side and performs Adele’s ‘Rolling in the Deep’ at a campfire after which a Mongolian girl picks up the tune with incredible (and unbelievable) precision. It should not be overlooked that Jackie Chan is a successful singer in China who has released 20 albums since 1984.

In summary, the battle scenes are creaky and too forced. It’s also clear that we’re spoiled with today’s high-quality CGI because the special effects of ‘Skiptrace’ look annoyingly cheap. Also where Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker complemented each other vividly and naturally in the ‘Rush Hour’ trilogy, Johnny Knoxville feels dull and made up. The comedy is standard and even disturbingly predictable. The film mainly focuses on the battle scenes and the rest is just support. And yes, we’ve seen the fights many times before and there’s nothing new under the sun here.