Review of Skiptrace (2016) by Magnus S — 02 Sep 2016

Chan's English-language dialogue occasionally comes across a bit muffled, but his body language rarely fails to connect. Knoxville thrashes about in a fairly undisciplined manner, but succeeds in providing a sizeable share of the comic relief. Though he's certainly no Chris Tucker, Johnny Knoxville does prove a decent enough accomplice for Jackie Chan's endearing combination of antics and acrobatics. Knoxville isn't as starry a Hollywood foil to his co-star's iconic stoicism as either Chris Tucker or Owen Wilson, but playing a jackass is right in his wheelhouse and in one action set piece, he's very funny as a kind of tightly bound human prop. Even if Chan no longer wants to put his life at risk as a martial arts Buster Keaton, he still has the ability to turn a joke and get a gasp out of an action sequence. Fan Bing Bing performs almost as many stunts as Knoxville and looks way better in an evening gown, but her underdeveloped character doesn't amount to much more than an ultimately ironic plot device. With energetic action and comedy set-pieces staged across Russia, Mongolia and China, the film's ambitions sometimes outstrip the resilience of Jay Longino and BenDavid Grabinski's largely derivative script, but in the end, it's hard to top Chan soloing on Adele's "Rolling in the Deep" accompanied on traditional instruments by a village of yurt-dwelling Mongolian herders.

VERDICT: "In The Zone" - [Mixed Reaction] These kinds of movies are usually movies that had some good things, but some bad things kept it from being amazing. This rating says buy an ex-rental or a cheap price of the DVD to own. If you consider cinema, ask for people's opinion on the film. (Films that are rated 2.5 or 3 stars).