Should you watch this at weekend movie ticket prices? If you’re a parkour fan, yes.
Should you watch this at weekday movie ticket prices? Sure.
Secret ending? No.
Running time: 94 minutes (~1.5 hours)
“Tracers” is an action movie about the adventures of a parkour practitioner who finds himself embroiled in a sinister plot involving a skilled free running group in New York. The title is derived from the word “traceur,” which is used to refer to a parkour practitioner. It stars Taylor Lautner (Cam), Marie Avgeropoulos (Nikki), and Adam Rayner (Miller).
As far as action movies go, “Tracer” delivers, satisfying with action scenes that aren’t the run-of-the-mill combat stunts or fierce shootouts. It doesn’t veer into violent territory to impress, but relies firmly on human athleticism and grace to create its action. The stunts are a welcome change from the usual fights or chases, while still managing to thrill you and keep you in suspense as you wonder if the hero will make that next jump or hurdle.
Highlights
Varied and exciting parkour chases
Of course, since this is the premise of the show, you would expect no less from the movie, right? The parkour stunts are not only well choreographed, but they retain a sense of gritty realism thanks to the hand held shooting style and the fact that the protagonist doesn’t always succeed on his attempts. Cam makes several painful missteps at times, failing to clear critical crevices or smashing various parts of his body into obstacles by accident.
Whether or not this is intentional is moot – what matters is that it creates a sense of realism by depicting a believable rate of success, rather than a perfectly executed free running each time. This adds to the tension, since you know the protagonist isn’t always going to be successful.
An antagonist you love to hate
The villain of the piece might not be the most subtle of performers, but his first appearance already gives a sense of sleaze to the character. As he reveals himself, you’ll grow to become truly disgusted with the antagonist, whose actions and inclinations border on the perverse.
Letdowns
Needlessly shaky camera work
Unfortunately, one of the strengths of the parkour scenes is also one of the movie’s greatest weaknesses. The hand held style is used for every shot in the movie. It works when following the respective traceur throughout the city, but not for pensive, quiet moments or romantic scenes. There’s an especially grating scene where the camera pans shakily from Cam to Nikki and back again multiple times, during what is ostensibly the part where they fall in love.
Cheesy romance
Too much time is spent depicting a romance that we know is inevitable. It could have been better spent on some free running action or perhaps even more backstory for the villain. Instead, we get long lingering shots, excruciating moments where the two leads struggle to emote their love, and strange tears falling out of nowhere.
Marie Avgeropoulos has no range in her performance
Marie Avgeropoulos is even more wooden than Taylor Lautner is, and the bulk of the screen time is devoted to the two of them. She’s definitely easy on the eyes, but her acting comprises of having an axe to grind against everything. It gets stale after awhile, and even makes Taylor Lautner look like a sterling thespian by comparison.
“Tracers” is a great action movie that delivers well on its title – it’s clear that the focus of the movie went to the parkour scenes. Taken in that context, it’s an enjoyable ride through the concrete jungle of New York. Just don’t think too much about the plot and characters, and appreciate the movie for what it is – an action flick.
“Tracers” opens in cinemas 26 February, 2015 (Thursday).
This review was also published on Yahoo Singapore.
Leave a Reply