Dave Karger breaks down eight first-time acting nominees at this year's Oscars, including Rami Malek and Regina King.
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Title: Jue di tao wang (2016)
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| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Jackie Chan | ... | Bennie Chan | |
| Johnny Knoxville | ... | Connor Watts | |
| Bingbing Fan | ... | Samantha Bai | |
| Eric Tsang | ... | Yung | |
| Eve Torres | ... | Dasha (as Eve Gracie) | |
| Winston Chao | ... | Victor Wong | |
 |
Jeong-hun Yeon | ... | Willie (as Junghoon Youn) |
| Shi Shi | ... | Leslie | |
| Michael Wong | ... | Tang | |
| Dylan Kuo | ... | Esmond (as Pin Chao Kuo) | |
|
|
Zoe Zhang | ... | Ting Ting (as Zhang Lanxin) |
|
|
Wei Na | ... | Officer Wu (as Na Wei) |
| Charlie Rawes | ... | Sergei | |
| Michael Gor | ... | Dima (as Mikhail Gorevoy) | |
|
|
Sara Maria Forsberg | ... | Natalya (as Sara Forsberg) |
Still blaming himself for the untimely demise of his best friend after nine long years, the veteran Hong Kong police detective, Bennie Chan, still finds himself on a wild-goose chase, trying to expose the elusive criminal kingpin known only as "The Matador". So far, nothing has changed, and Bennie's main suspect--the corrupt entrepreneur, Victor Wong--is, above all, legally untouchable. However, when Samantha--his late partner's only daughter--has a brush with the mob, Bennie will have no other choice but to seek help from an improbable ally: the flamboyant American gambler, Conor Watts, who has serious problems of his own with the Russian mafia. Now, the unlikely duo must cross the vast landscapes of Mongolia and the Gobi Desert to return to Hong Kong in one piece, as the Matador is still unknown. Will Bennie ever find the hard evidence he needs to put him once and for all behind bars? Written by Nick Riganas
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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.