Great stunt work in an action film can cover up for a lot of lapses, but there still needs to be a basic story of substance in back of all that great movement for a film really to land, and that’s just what’s lacking in Daniel Benmayor’s Tracers. The screenwriter doesn’t bother with even the bare outlines of the capers his protagonists are pulling, and yet we’re supposed to get wrapped up in them simply because the parkour on display is spectacularly mind-blowing (which it is), and the director has done a brilliant job of filming it. But it’s all flash and no substance that brings this movie crashing down to earth.
Studio: Lionsgate
Distributed By: N/A
Video Resolution and Encode: 1080P/AVC
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HDMA
Subtitles: English, English SDH, Spanish
Rating: PG-13
Run Time: 1 Hr. 34 Min.
Package Includes: Blu-ray, UltraViolet
keep case in a slipcoverDisc Type: BD25 (single layer)
Region: A
Release Date: 05/12/2015
MSRP: $19.99
The Production Rating: 2.5/5
From the film’s breathless opening crosscutting between Cam on his bike madly traversing New York City traffic and the parkour crew finishing their most recent mission, director Daniel Benmayor shows us his calling card: the ability to capture quite uniquely the free-wheeling action of the streets on wheels or on foot both up close and at great distances, and he stages after that opening three such exhilarating sequences as the gang runs, skips, flips and lunges across, up, over, and through a dizzying array of buildings and structures taking us right along with them or allowing us to see them in all their breathtaking majestic movement from astonishing heights making it clear these are real experts in the art of parkour with no wires or cables assisting them in their maneuvers. Would that Matt Johnson’s screenplay had filled in some of the details of what these capers were all about so that not only could we experience and enjoy the adrenaline-charged physicality of what we’re watching but also understand the purposes and objectives of these missions (other than for some unnamed McGuffin). At one point, Cam screams, “I’m flying blind here,” and we share the feeling since we’re in the midst of a heist with no explanation offered, no clear path of entry or escape mapped out, and no intrinsic involvement in the scheme on the part of the viewer. The romance which develops between Cam and Nikki also seems pre-ordained from the moment of their “meet cute” (he flies off his bike, over a car, and onto her in the street), but again it seems to exist only to put two attractive people together and not because it makes sense for them to be together. From beginning to end, the movie is beautiful to look at but lacks even a scintilla of substance which would really give it heft and a reason for the viewer to become involved.
It’s obviously Taylor Lautner doing a great deal of the parkour stunts in the movie (he trained for months to perfect it for the camera), and his athleticism is a joy to behold. Sadly, he’s still only reasonably comfortable in delivering lines and sharing scenes with other actors. Adam Rayner does the most solid work as the enigmatic Miller, a person whose street cred becomes clear later in the film but still seems a character not quite fully formed on the page. Marie Avgeropoulos is attractive and spunky as Nikki, and Rafi Gavron as her brother makes enough of an impression with his meager material to suggest more could and should have been done with him. Amirah Vann and Christian Steel are neighbors whom Cam forms an emotional attachment to, but they’re long gone by the midway point of the movie. Johnny M. Wu does very nicely as the street thug who’s continually reminding Cam of the money that he owes his boss.
Video Rating: 4.5/5 3D Rating: NA
Audio Rating: 4/5
Special Features Rating: 2/5
Director’s Pitch Reel (2:25, HD): director Daniel Benmayor’s briefly directed sequence showing how he planned to film the parkour in trying to land the job.
Promo Trailers (HD): The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1, John Wisk, Mortdecai, Abduction, Spare Parts.
Ultraviolet: code sheet enclosed in the case.
Overall Rating: 2.5/5
Reviewed By: Matt Hough
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