Skiptrace

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.

Mr. Chan has done these unlikely-buddy yarns before, of course - "Shanghai Noon," the "Rush Hour" movies - and sometimes has made the conceit work, but this incarnation lacks originality and spark.

All the principals are plenty capable, but this is hardly any of these folks' peak.

At times, Skiptrace feels like the most Jackie Chan movie Jackie Chan has made, certainly in recent years, and possibly ever.

Action hero Jackie Chan rises above uninspired sex jokes and a weak co-star in martial arts/road movie hybrid Skiptrace, a Midnight Run-style buddy comedy that shackles Chan to Jackass star Johnny Knoxville.

Skiptrace is a movie made to serve a number of competing interests and markets, and in trying to offer the proverbial something for everybody, it ends up possessing a very limited appeal.

For all the comforts nostalgia might bring to Skiptrace, the film's also a pretty good reminder that the Rush Hour era brought with it its fair share of cringeworthy shit.

Ultimately, despite its generic storyline and overall ridiculousness, Skiptrace remains surprisingly watchable, mostly because of its affable leads and the steady supply of humour.

The blandness and slapdash feel can't be ignored and the film becomes an interesting experiment signifying little.

The problem with Skiptrace is that it seems as a labored and redundant rag-tag vehicle trying to bask in the shadowy spirit of Chan's typical big screen, high-wire Hong Kong police procedurals from yesteryear.