Even at the ripe old age of 61 and slowing down
and unable to do what he could 40 years ago and in truth over the past decade
having made some fairly forgettable films - and having sold out to the Mainland
in a shameful way, he is still Jackie Chan and that is where my heart is.
Or at least used to be. You have to separate the man from the movies because
in almost every way Jackie Chan is a dreadful person.
From 1983 with Project A, Chan dominated
HK film for the next 10-15 years with more classic films than you can imagine.
Mixing elements of humor, humility, stunts and confounding action choreography
he – along with his friend Sammo Hung – turned around Hong film and made
it a Global Movement with fans all over the world. To watch those early films
is simply to sit back and be amazed by what he could do – no stunt doubles,
no special effects – just Chan risking his body and life to make great films.
So even with his betrayal of Hong Kong and his enering into the uneven filmmaking
of Hollywood (Around the World in 80 Days and Medallion were truly embarrassing),
I still feel like I owe him. He and a few other Hong Kong stars – Chow Yun
Fat, Sammo, Michelle Yeoh, Brigitte Lin – opened up a new film portal for
me in the 1990’s that led to a lot of good things. So I went with my heart
and trekked to the local theater to see this.
And lo and behold, Skiptrace is actually
pretty solid entertainment and I quite enjoyed it for what it was – another
mismatched buddy film with loads of action, some humor and a great advertisement
from the Chinese to visit China which seems to be filled with lovely women,
quaint villages, stoic old men, constant holidays and traditions and just
the nicest people in the world – except of course for the gangsters who are
trying to kill you. Basically the plot comes down to Chan being a HK cop
who needs to bring a conman witness (Johnny Knoxville) back from Siberia
to HK to testify against a gangster. They manage this trip by rail, foot,
horse, jitney and blown up pork carcasses. Along the way they of course bond
in that movie way and we get to see a lot of beautiful China. There is even
a stopover with a Mongolian tribe ((I guess the Uighurs were not available)
that breaks into a rendition of Adele’s Rolling in the Deep. Tourists will
probably start demanding to hear it from now on.
There is also a lot of action – three big
set pieces that are pretty good and that came as no surprise once I realized
that frigging Renny Harlin directed the film. Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger and
one of my favorite silly action films The Long Kiss Goodbye. But it has been
a while since he had a successful film so he probably jumped at a chance
to direct Jackie Chan. For Hong Kong film fans there is the added pleasure
of small parts for some old favorites from way back – Eric Tsang, Michael
Wong, Winston Chao and Richard Ng. And as the beauty there is the wonderful
Fan Bing Bing. There Goes My Heart.
