by Ed Travis
I’m fascinated by the Chinese film industry right now. I click on every article I stumble across regarding American producers desperately seeking Chinese funding or how much money Warcraft made in China, pulling that film into something approximating success even as it was a blatant failure in the US market. If you’re paying attention at all, you can’t help but notice more and more Chinese money pouring into Western releases… and more Western releases making significant decisions in order to court the Chinese box office. It’s a wild time for international co-productions and while it isn’t always increasing the quality of the films, it is fascinating to watch this all unfold. This fascination meant I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to cover Skiptrace.
Here’s a film produced by and starring Jackie Chan. European director Renny Harlin (Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger) steers the ship, and Johnny Knoxville co-stars. But other than those three recognizable names to Western audiences, Skiptrace is for all intents and purposes a Chinese film designed for a multi-national audience. And with the Matt Damon-starring film The Great Wall coming next, we’re just beginning to see this new kind of film emerge. I’m sure many are uncomfortable about the whole phenomenon, because us Americans are used to exporting our culture around the world… but we’re not used to other power houses trying to market their films to us. I’m excited to check out the ride as China’s market continues to grow and potentially outpace the US theatrical market.
Is Skiptrace a shining bastion of a new international product? Well, not exactly. Filmed on location all over China, there’s an element of beauty that really showcases this incredible country. It’s also comfort food for long-time Jackie Chan fans. Everything he does from stunts to comedy to over-the-top set pieces are on full display. But there’s also a sloppy and slapdash feel to the whole thing. Filmed in both Chinese and English, there are lots of instances of weird dubbing and flat acting as certain actors struggle in their grasp of one language or another. It harkens back to the beloved Spaghetti Western era where western stars were headlining mostly international productions in which every actor just performed in their native language and then were dubbed over into dozens of different languages as the films made their way around the world. But audiences are expecting that kind of dubbing and chaos when they watch a Spaghetti Western today. We aren’t expecting it from big budget buddy action comedies. The sloppiness is there for all to see, and it’s jarring… but it may not be entirely a strike against the film. I love the international feel of those old Westerns. I just wasn’t prepared for it here, and found it distracting.
It doesn’t help that the plotting is generic, providing just enough excuses to keep the two leads tied to one another and traveling across China for reasons. There’s a cell phone mcguffin, there are competing gangs trying to kill our leads, and there’s their own bickering and bonding. It’s tried and true buddy comedy material that never rises above the sense that we’ve all seen this before. Some magic moments shine through, such as a fight in which Jackie Chan uses nesting Russian dolls to protect himself, to diminishing returns, from a beautiful and deadly female Russian operative. Or when, stranded in the plains of Mongolia with a tribe of horsemen, Chan starts singing Adele’s “Rolling In The Deep” and the whole clan joins in. Knoxville holds his own, but never has any of these kinds of magic moments, per se. It’s almost as though his talent is nowhere near that of Jackie Chan’s. Hmm.
Renny Harlin seems to have greatly enjoyed himself as director of this project as he reveals in the commentary track that he’s remained in China for over two years and plans to make more films there. This is fascinating and I wish Harlin the best, but I also hope his direction improves as his relationships with the Chinese crew and Chinese production style mature. At times the majesty of China is on full display through his direction, and at other times the sloppy and rushed feeling of Skiptrace overpowers everything.
There’s a casual watchability to Skiptrace bred of formula and familiar Chan-ery. But the blandness and slapdash feel can’t be ignored and the film becomes an interesting experiment signifying little.
The Package
As mentioned, Renny Harlin has a commentary track which is actually quite illuminating and legitimately more fascinating than the film itself. Granted, it may only be fascinating to someone like me who can’t keep away from news about China’s film industry right now, but Harlin is candid and charming and the track is worth checking out.
The film itself does show some sweeping visuals from all over mainland China that many western eyes may never have seen before. There are moments of inspiration there that make this high definition presentation exceptional. But unfortunately the action direction is merely adequate and many dialog scenes are outright uncomfortable to watch.
Overall, this disc is lightly recommended only for Jackie Chan fanatics, Renny Harlin enthusiasts, or Chinese film industry obsessives. All others can simply check out any number of other Jackie Chan titles or The Last Stand for a more effective Johnny Knoxville action sidekick film.
And I’m Out
Skiptrace hits home video October 25th from Lionsgate Home Entertainment