User reviews

I enjoy this movie but only because I've been a Jackie Chan fan.

The movie features his trademark comedy moves and gags, but as an action martial arts flick his moves against goons are now much slower than his past movies due to his age (respectfully so). The man is still doing his own stunts and the end credit routine showing the bloopers is always a treat for me.

Knoxville portrays a crook very believably well and the pair of opposite do attract and contrast sometimes to keep the story flowing.

Jackie Chan should join forces with all the other old stars such as Yuen Biao, Sammo Hung and make united flick franchises like R.E.D., The Expendables...

In conclusion, Skiptrace is a bit like From Russia to Hongkong in 80 days, with some bits of China tourism ads/commercials thrown in, plus regular Jackie Chan favourite flavours. If you enjoy Jackie Chan, watch it to support him.

Okay, the plot is a little bit all over the place at times but it still had some pretty neat fights (Jackie Chan always delivers some good stunts for his films) and some fun humor (often within said fight scenes).

There was some dubbed scenes in the first 20 minutes where they clearly weren't speaking English as they would have had no reason to being just Chinese present but luckily that didn't last too long.

I'm guessing the studio thought that Johnny Knoxville fans couldn't handle reading too many subtitles so they dubbed every other scene that was Mandarin sometimes more obvious than others (in the first dubbed scene they avoid the obviousness by simply picking shots that avoid the lips of the cast when they speak).

But I guess that makes it feel a bit like the classic early 90's Jackie Chan movies where they did similar things for the international versions.

Anyway all in all I was mostly entertained and that's why we watch these kind of movies after all and it's worth watching it to see Jackie Chan sing Adelé alone.

6.5/10 for me.

Hong Kong police detective Bennie Chan (Jackie Chan) loses his partner Yung in a deadly bombing. He suspects that businessman Victor Wong is criminal Matador responsible for the death. He's been investigating for 9 years to no avail. World-traveling thief Connor Watts (Johnny Knoxville) is on the run from the Russian mob after sleeping with the daughter of the boss. In Macau, he gets involved with Yung's daughter Samantha who is infiltrating a casino connected to Victor Wong. He steals her card to access a private floor where he witnesses Esther Yee's murder. He escapes by getting taken by the Russians. The casino accuses him of stealing money and Samantha asks Bennie to track him down.

This is classic Jackie Chan. The action is still there and so is his sense of humor. His fights still have that pep and his fights with Eve Torres are actually funny. It's nothing new except this time's guilo is Knoxville. I expected better chemistry but the two deliver enough comedy. The story doesn't really work and the movie tries very hard to make it into a muddle. The guys end up in the Mongolian desert for no particularly good reason other than it's exotic cool. It's great to see Jackie staying in fighting shape but it's not much better than that.

This film tells the story of a Hong Kong policeman who has to catch an American con man, chasing him from Macau to Russia. Along the way, they encounter trouble with Russian gangs and Mongolian tribes. They have to do everything to survive.

"Skiptrace" is in English but it is clear that it is aimed at the Chinese market. The film itself is adequately entertaining, with a lot of action scenes done in a funny way that makes you chuckle. However, it just looks like every other recent Jackie Chan film, even the action sequences are beginning to feel strangely familiar. It is an adequate choice to kill an evening, but don't expect too much because Hollywood action films have moved on but this hasn't.

Skiptrace finds Jackie Chan trying that odd Chinese-American combination yet again, but unfortunately he fails miserably this time. Johnny Knoxville fails to fire up that natural flair of comedy that Owen Wilson had so effortlessly aced in the Shanghai franchise. Unfortunately the movie falls like dominoes owing to a bland plot and an unvarying disconnect that rips apart whatever Skiptrace was trying to walk upon.

DIRECTION OF SKIPTRACE

The direction of Skiptrace is absolutely pathetic. Renny Harlin isn't really sure what he wishes to show. You can see that confusion in his frames. Or maybe that element of clarity is missing from his head that clouds his judgment. Editing will compel you to shake your head. It is that bad.

Humour is quite confined, always acting contrary to our expectations. With Johnny Knoxville in the vanguard to stay as the primary entertainer of Skiptrace, expectations naturally shot up high. But Johnny made it all mediocre. You keep waiting for something funny, but then the wait becomes punishing.

The plot is forced upon to entertain a deliberate road trip. You feel the emptiness of it all when you see nothing substantial emanate from any corner. We are always heading towards something, so that's kind of good.

Chan and Knoxville create an okay chemistry though it is hard to compare their pairing up with the likes of what you have seen over the years.

NOSTALGIC OLD TIMES

Gone are those days when Jackie used to be young, and his fight scenes used to be the ogling kind. It always sends me back in time, when I try to remember all of his arresting fight sequences from the likes of Project A series, Who Am I, City Hunter, Armour of God and Police Story franchise. He still manages to entertain us nevertheless, but the quantum of combat bits in his movies has seen a gradual decline over the years. Maybe old age is doing that to him. It is in a way sad, because even when his movies didn't bank on a good storyline, he used to still uplift them with his jaw-dropping brawls. We miss that profusely.

Now that I think of it every Jackie Chan movie is ending up like that. Maybe for a change he should use a stunt double so that he doesn't hurt himself delivering those parkour like stunts, as is quite evident from his end credit scenes.

THE FINAL VERDICT

Skiptrace makes for a passable watch, preferable when you are fine with your brain taking a holiday for a change. You cannot help but think, it is time Jackie Chan amp up his entertaining quotient, by partnering up with either Owen Wilson or Tucker again. At least that magic was working for him.

'SKIPTRACE': Three and a Half Stars (Out of Five)

The new Chinese-American action-comedy buddy film, starring Jackie Chan and Johnny Knoxville. It was directed by Renny Harlin, and written by Jay Longino, BenDavid Grabinski and Wen-Chia Chang. The film tells the story of a Hong Kong detective, that's forced to team up with an American gambler; in order to stop a Chinese crime boss. The movie also costars Bingbing Fan (a popular Chinese actress and pop singer), Eve Torres (a popular WWE wrestler, model and a Brazilian jiu-jitsu fighter) and Eric Tsang. The movie received mostly poor reviews from critics, but it was a blockbuster at the Chinese Box Office. I enjoyed it.

Bennie Chan (Chan) is a Hong Kong detective, that's been pursuing a Chinese crime boss, known as 'Matador', for many years. He became obsessive about the case, when the notorious criminal killed his partner, Yung (Tsang). Bennie believes that a businessman, named Victor Wong (Winston Chao), is the 'Matador', but he doesn't have the evidence he needs to prove it. When Yung's daughter (Fan) gets in trouble with the crime boss, for letting an American gambler, named Connor Watts (Knoxville), steal from her, Bennie must track the gambler down in order to help her. Bennie and Connor then reluctantly team up, and of course bond on their new adventure.

The movie is everything you'd expect from a Jackie Chan buddy movie; it's reminiscent of 'RUSH HOUR' and 'SHANGHAI NOON', but not quite as good. Knoxville is great playing the comic relief, in action buddy flicks like this (he also did it in 2004's 'WALKING TALL', and 2013's 'THE LAST STAND'), and he and Chan have great chemistry together; it would have been interesting to see Sean William Scott in the role too though (who Knoxville replaced). Renny Harlin is of course very qualified to direct this type of movie as well, and he does a good job. It's a fun movie; not great, but fun.

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It's always a crap shoot whenever a Hollywood film tries to bring martial arts into mainstream North America. Jackie Chan has for the most part bridged that gap successfully while integrating comedy. Unlike with his past comedic partners in crime from Owen Wilson and Chris Tucker. Johnny Knoxville fails miserably. It's not entirely his fault. It's the film itself. It seems to me Renny Harlin is trying to mash bits of Shanghai Noon with Rush Hour with a dab of Supercop. The film doesn't gel at all. The flow is all over the place and scenes are too implausible. Each scene, seems to be a gag. There's conversation/joke/story line implied then at the end of the scene, the punchline. Then it moves on. Action scenes are obvious Chan-born, which sometimes do not feel unique unlike his past Hollywood films. Feels too contrived, not original enough. I am a big fan of Jackie Chan - Johnny Knoxville is coming along trying to be taken seriously, but Renny can't seems to improve either actors and that shows in this outing. His last decent film, Long Kiss Goodnight should be used as reference to make better action movies.

Is this Jackie Chan at his best? Of course not, but if you like him or the particular style of movies, then you should be able to have fun with this. It's not really science to put a movie like this together, things just happen and the action sequences are decent enough put together (again don't look for excellence).

Even former Jackass and now Chan partner has a role that is fitting. He's no Owen Wilson of course or Chris Tucker for that matter. But he does his schtick and it ... sticks. The jokes may not have the impact some could have and many things are predictable, but that's the way it is. Don't overthink it (any of it), just sit back, relax and take it in

Renny Harlin's Skiptrace is big garland to crazy comedies of eighties. With a little scheme movie stays together mainly, because in some parts it actually is quite funny movie. Jackie Chan's fight scenes are well choreography, and it is hard to believe that he is already over sixty year old actor. Movie introduces beautiful and enormous China scenery beautifully and that is one of the best moments in this movie. Most surprising and cheerful moment of the movie happens in the middle of Gobi desert when Jackie Chan turn out to be big Adele fan. Adele's Rolling in the Deep hit smashes the movie to it's next level and makes it even more joyful. With a little confused plot the movie still have it moments. One of them is movies tongue-in-cheek attitude which is Jackie Chan's trademark. Also China's and Mongolia's scenery are breathtaking. With all the feebleness Skiptrace is actually a decent action comedy. With right state of mind it is very enjoyable movie. I can't recommend it to humourless persons, but to all Renny Harlin movie fans it is dandy crazy comedy.

Look, I am a huge Jackie Chan fan and I have seen quite a few of his films that were accessible to American audiences. He has done some remarkable movies in his day. Anyone the hasn't seen Police Story 1 or 2 is missing some of the most hardcore action ever put to film. Legend of the Drunken Master is a classic film. Project A, Armour of the Gods, Rumble in the Bronx, Rush Hour, and on and on and on. I love Jackie Chan.

This film however is bad. I mean capital B A D. The action sequences are poorly filmed. The dialogue is terrible. The story progression is horrendous. The acting is atrocious. I wanted to like this movie...I really did. Jackie Chan has broken down so many barriers. His comedic style is something that has given me laughs upon laughs for years. But it just doesn't work this time.

I chalk it up to a poor script, the fact that he is probably slowing down some in his older age, and just bad direction, bad writing, and horrible editing.

Watch at your own risk.

Okay bear with me on this one, this is one of those films that I enjoyed yet I fully understand an argument against me doing so.

You see Netflix decided to make another buddy duo with Jackie Chan, he's done great work with Chris Tucker, Owen Wilson and even Lee Evans before so it made sense. There is just something about him that screams buddy movie, so here they pair him with Johnny Knoxville which has been met with a very mixed reception. Do they have chemistry? I personally thought so.

It tells a rather generic action movie story (As they tend to do) with lashings of comedy to keep it interesting and in my view both of these leads excel in that department. They both have great natural comedic timing despite not really coming from that background, Chan from martial arts and Knoxville from.......stunts?

An old school buddy movie with over the top sequences, the odd couple dynamic and Chan's trademark comedy stunts/fight scenes I was enthralled but the films flaws are overwhelming.

Many jokes miss their mark, some moments seem awkward, the fights are considerably tamer than we're used to (Chan's age no doubt a factor), and the whole thing has a really PG vibe to it. Truth be told the movie has a lot more flaws than I'm letting on but it's qualities outweigh them and I found it an enjoyable, fun, throwback movie.

I understand the criticism, but I really enjoyed it and would love a sequel.

The Good:

Leads do a great job

Eve Torres is ageing like a fine wine

Some funny moments

Awesome buddy movie dynamic

The Bad:

Littered with flaws in pretty much every area of the film

PG cuteness hurts the film

I have to say, I was shocked to see Renny Harlin's name pop up in the credits, who's best film was, in my opinion, Cliffhanger but is also know for Die Hard 2, Long Kiss Goodnight and Deep Blue Sea. He didn't quit after those, but slowly slipped off the big name notice board in recent years, hence my shock seeing him directing Chan the Man.

I can't help but think Harlin received a lot of creative input from Chan and co, having a strong, distinct Hong Kong cinema feel. However the opening credits is something Guy Ritchie would do, thinking it's more of a show-off instead of suiting the film. I found that a lot with Harlin's films.

I grew up watching Jackie Chan films and I absolutely idolise the man, but, I hate to say it, Jackie appears to lose some of his magic in Rush Hour 3 back in 2007, though Forbidden Kingdom and the rebooted Karate Kid restored my faith, and I have yet to see Police Story 2013. He's not as fast as he once was, he's 62 now, but even though a lot of the action sequences here are copies from a lot of his previous movies, he's still Jackie Chan and delivers the goods.

It's a clichéd storyline of struck-off cop Chan hooking up with gambler low-life, Knoxville in order to catch the bad guy. Johnny Knoxville another man who's not afraid to perform his own stunts. He's come a long way since performing daring pranks in Jackass to now sharing the screen with greats like Dwayne Johnson, Schwarzenegger and now Jackie. I wonder if he looks back thinking "wow" there I was drinking Preston's sweat and boom!

The action isn't always consistent going from being quite impressive to being mediocre and poor, again, a trait I associate with Harlin. The fight sequences mimic a lot of Jackie's slapstick fighting style. But the acting overall is quite terrible, Knoxville being the only believable character here. His wit is actually quite funny and refreshing.

There's some nice touches and funny scenes like the bowling alley and Jackie singing Adele! But a lot of it is silly and totally out of sync, rushing around faster than Jackie's stunt team. however looked like a lot of fun. It even includes Jackie's trademark outtakes at the end credits.

Unfortunately, Harlin doesn't let me down and does what is expected, a film with some great ideas and potential that fails to impress. Not even Jackie Chan's masterful Kung Fu and Knoxville's quick-fire sarcasm can save this film. Still, it's entertaining, brainless fun but certainly not one of Jackie's best, ever.

Running Time: 6 The Cast: 6 Performance: 4 Direction: 5 Story: 5 Script: 5 Creativity: 6 Soundtrack: 5 Job Description: 4 The Extra Bonus Points: 0

46% 5/10

I first heard of Jackie Chan from the Rush Hour movies. Since then I've watched him come out in a few good American movies. Not every movie can become a hit. SkipTrace falls in between his best and those that were not so good. The story line is not original, but how can it be with so many cop movies and TV shows out today, but bring in a little Jackie Chan humor and it becomes a decent movie. It's not a Hollywood blockbuster, but who needs Hollywood when you have Jackie. Johnny Knoxville is not known for being a great actor, but his performance is good enough to help move the movie along. I was never bored watching this movie, it kept my interest from beginning to end. That's all you can ask from some movies. I was surprised it was only released in Italy? and not the US? Was it straight to DVD after Italy? Doesn't matter, if you can't find anything on TV to watch, check out this movie it will help waste a couple hours of you life.

"If I go back with you they're gonna kill me." Bennie (Jackie Chan) is one of the best detectives in Hong Kong and after the death of his partner he begins his hunt for a man known as the Matador. He is stuck until he hears about Connor Watts (Knoxville) and his problems. Now with an item and a suspect the two must do whatever it takes to find the man they think is the Matador, before it's too late. This is a movie that was pretty much what I expected. The trailer and the poster make it seem like a Rush Hour type movie with Knoxville instead of Tucker. That is basically what this movie is. The chemistry between these two isn't as good, Chan looks tired and Knoxville seems to try way to hard in this. That said, the movie isn't terrible and is worth watching but it does really tend to drag and get very repetitive. Fans of Jackie Chan will like this, but this should be that last movie like this he does. Overall, a slower and less exciting Rush Hour with worse chemistry between the two main actors, but all that being said its still a decent watch. Just tone down your expectations. I give this a C+.

I have to start by saying I have a vested interest: I like breathing.

That said, this movie made me want to stop breathing.

First the two main actors have ZERO chemistry, in fact some scenes look like the are blue screening against each other and it was filmed with each actor in a different country. It really is that bad. Jackie is also looking a little 'tired' - when you see a 62 year old Grandfather in an action movie lead; a little bit of hero status gets chipped away. As for Knoxy, he too was looking a little jaded at 45 he is beginning to look more like 'Max Headroom' (UK Channel 4).

The plot, well, if you take a scene from all JC's movies in the last 20 years, then you get the exact plot of this movie. Only this one is sooooo much worse.

The Director, not wanting to blaspheme and also be sued for libel. I must say the director had plopsy slopsy to work with, but he even made a pigs ear of that.

Even the costumes were clunky and cliché - not purposeful.

Jackie, I have to say you are a hero of mine, please don't do this, you have more to loose than the other starlets or desperados in this movie; I am sorry Jackie, but I cannot lie. Please be true to yourself.

Other than that perhaps this movie could be used as a training exercise...

I only hope that someone was able to retire on the back of that.

The odd buddy cop movie, and partial road trip comedy, is something one would expect from a decade ago, along with "Rundown" or Jackie's own "Rush Hour". It has the apparent goal to deliver action comedy while presenting beautiful location as the backdrop. Unfortunately, the shady plot and awkwardly crafted fight scene along with odd pacing hamper the movie every step of the way.

Bennie (Jackie Chan) is a cop with obsession to capture a drug dealer who kills his partner, but in order to do so he must chase a conman Connor (Johnny Knoxville). This might sound like a cliché cop story, because it is. Furthermore, it's riddled with consistency and logical issues, but nevertheless the movie pushes along since it needs to showcase more tourist locations.

The strongest assets may be the cinematography, it's shot in various stunning places, which is already a boon for any movie. Activity such as the lantern or mud festival is bound to attract viewer, as much as it does to tourist. The problem is stringing these scenes in orderly fashion. It often stumbles due to editing or simply a missed piece in the plot.

Same thing happens with comedy aspect as well. The movie may offer a few chuckles here and there, but too much is spent of the buddy cop relationship that is not particularly appealing. It can be attributed to the clash of multiple languages and the untimely delivery, even looking like the audio is a mismatch.

As for the trademark Jackie's stunts, "Skiptrace" does have them. This once popular gig is now more of niche since most action movies have incorporated wilder style. The addition of poor green screen for obvious large scale scene feels too outdated at this point. Characters involved are rigidly played, ranging from drug lord to Russian mafia, most of them are highly underutilized or simply too stereotypical to be effective.

"Skiptrace" feels more like a promotional tour with mediocre cop story and odd buddy gimmick thrown in as excuse for the travel.

What an awful Jackie Chan movie. Like all time awful movie one can imagine. The movie has no continuous line or theme. Scenes are just over lapping each other. It seems like Jackie Chan just went out with some dude with a camera and just made a ridiculous movie. Jackie Chan is not that young but his tiredness was so obvious in the each and every scene. It was like he was forced to do this film. Johnny Knoxville on the other hand was bored, out of any rhyme and just simply awful. Cast was pathetic, the sound dubbing was horrible. Scene, places, set, timings, everything was just simply wrong in this movie. Well if you know a Jackie Chan fan and want such person to hate him then recommend this movie.

Skiptrace is the result of a collaboration effort between Chinese talent and American filmmakers. The movie is directed by Renny Harlin (Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger) and written by Jay Longino (Bachelor Party 2) and BenDavid Grabinski (Cost of Living).

Jackie Chan returns to play the kind of role that made him famous in America. The movie's format is also reminiscent of Rush Hour. A series that Jackie was famous for in America following Rumble in the Bronx. Johnny Knoxville is seen here as the goofball reminiscent of Chris Tucker's role as Carter in Rush Hour. The film also stars famous mainland Chinese actress Fan Bingbing who plays as the adopted daughter of Jackie Chan's character.

On paper, Skiptrace sounds like a great movie. I love Jackie Chan and Fan Bingbing and I also love the Rush Hour movies. What can go wrong? In reality the movie ends up disappointing. Jackie Chan turns in a decent performance but typical of his earlier action movies. Johnny Knoxville's acting was sub-par but I did buy the whole scumbag gambler routine. Fan Bingbing was far and away the best performer (in terms of acting) in the movie but she was relegated to a damsel in distress role.

What I enjoyed most in the movie is seeing China's beautiful countryside as well as a brief look into Mongolia and it's people. The film overall is very run of the mill buddy cop flick. I didn't feel connected to Benny Chan's tragedy, which is central to his motivation for going after the crime boss Matador. I warmed up to the characters midway through the movie when it was more humorous. The plot twist was predictable and the ending gave me a bitter taste in my mouth.

So when I saw that the world's greatest stuntman was going to team up with the biggest name out of the Jackass crew, my first thought was that this was a very good idea. It seemed like a no brainier that these two would make a film together.

My second thought, was that this movie is 15 years or so too late. The biggest example of this was the limited release this movie got, at least in the states. Neither one of these guys are at their prime and I'm not talking physically, but the movie star points they bring are not what they were back in the turn of the century.

This is too bad, because this movie was every thing I would have expected from a Jackie Chan, Johnny Knoxville collaboration. Under the guise of director Renny Harlin, it was the fast pace, high octane, slap stick comedy I thought it would be, both men doing what they do best with physical performances that give you fun and give you entertainment.

I mean, don't get me wrong, Jackie's not flipping and kicking like he use to, and Knoxville may be too old to put a firecracker where the sun don't shine but still, Skiptace shows you clearly why fans of both these guys would want to come out and see this one.

It puts a smile on your face and it stays there throughout the movie, and the best part about it, it has a lot more to do with the great physical comedy routine these two were doing than anything else. Jackie Chan's chemistry with Knoxville is close to what made Rush Hour with Chris Tucker work.

It's a little sad, like Escape Plan with Stallone and Schwarzenegger, Skiptrace suffers most from being made at the wrong time. If only some one could have came to Chan and Knoxville with this idea around the time when Chan decided to do the Tuxedo. I think this could have been a mega hit.

Still, Skiptrace is worth seeing despite being long over do. The idea of the Chan Knoxville duo is exciting and made for a good movie to watch.

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One of the worst movies I've seen this year... actually it's more like this past decade. It's pretty obvious that a bunch of people were paid to give this a rating of 4/10 or better.

I like Jackie Chan but the stunts in this movie is beyond horrible, I guess you can't really blame Jackie because he's 62 years old.

Another failed Chinese copying attempt at making a blockbuster sequels like Shanghai Noon and Rush Hour.

Johnny Knoxville and Jackie Chan had zero chemistry, it felt like the both of them only agreed to make this movie after they saw the amount of zeros that was written on their paychecks