By Karen Chutsky
The Movie Lady
Jackie Chan, the guy with the martial arts karate chop and kick that’s more lethal than a Colt 45, has got to be the last cheeky loveable charming international detective we’ve got left on the big screen.
I’m assuming Jackie Chan had a bowl of fun making this noodley oriental detective romp shot in some of most spectacular Asian locations while blending in some intriguing foreign cultural twists into the storyline.
This may shock you, but I think Barbara Broccoli could take a few tips from Director: Renny Harlin and the creators of “Skiptrace” when she creates the next decade of James Bond adventures.
Why?
“Skiptrace” is chock full of just the right action/destruction that’s believable, like the old-old Bond films; knock over a few fruit stands in a Moroccan bazaar or split a few junkets with a power boat during 007’s escape. And just the right ‘POW/ BAMN’ (as they used to say in the old Batman TV series) like the old-old Bond films; whack a foreign spy with a flying fish or a giant octopus while water skiing into a Caribbean bar for a martini.
With Chan it’s; jumping from dilapidated river side Asian hut to hut as they fall like dominoes while you kick punch any sleazy criminal trying to stop you, or crating some Shanghai criminal in a barrel and sending him down the Wang Fu Co. shipping conveyor. Heh! Heh!
Remember when Bond didn’t take himself so seriously, being stretched on an exercise machine while flirting with the Swedish Masseuse? When the outlandish plots of the real bad guys were almost laughably wacko?
That’s the mantra of the Chan movies, but of course with an oriental twist. And that’s entertaining, if you like that sort of thing, or are even on the edge of liking that sort of thing, as I am.
When they pair Chan up with an array of American comic screw-ups, movie magic happens, box office receipts soar, proof he has won over American audiences.
Here’s the simple synopsis of “Skiptrace”:
Bennie Chan (Jackie Chan) of the Hong Kong Police is a dedicated detective with a lot of heart and some kick-ass martial arts skill, fighting to try and uncover the head of the snake of an international oriental crime ring, exporting and importing stuff from the docks of Hong Kong on rusty tankers, the creeps who supposedly killed his partner, leaving Chan the task of mothering and fathering his late partner’s daughter, owing to a death bed or bomb strapped to the chest promise.
There’s not a helluva lot to say beyond that about the movie but there is lot worth knowing about Hong Kong's best known film star, Jackie Chan-equal parts James Bond, Peter Sellers and Chuck Norris, shaken and stirred up.
Chan has invested decades of dedicated hard work to his craft and endured multiple injuries in order to establish his international mega success upon the foundations of his humble early beginnings in Hong Kong.
The young Jackie was less than successful scholastically, so his father sent him to Hong Kong to attend the rigorous China Drama Academy, one of the Peking Opera schools. Chan excelled at acrobatics, singing and martial arts and eventually became a member of the "Seven Little Fortunes" performing troupe and began lifelong friendships with fellow martial artists / actors Sammo Kam-Bo Hung and Biao Yuen.
In the early 1970s Chan commenced his movie career appearing in very minor roles in a few films for Warner Bros starring then rising martial arts superstar Bruce Lee. Not long after Lee's untimely death Chan was often cast in films in roles that probably would have gone to Bruce Lee, so in essence cashing in on Lee’s success.
After that Chan's film career was off and running, in the orient mainly, doing what he did best--make jaw-dropping action films loaded with amazing stunt work in dozens of martial arts films churned out at a rapid fire pace by Hong Kong studios eager to satisfy the early manic boom in martial-arts cinema.
However, they failed to win the hearts of US audiences. It took another decade until he found the winning combination of being paired with a hot American star sidekick, or being the sidekick straight-man to some well-known Hollywood comedian.
Chan truly is truly one of the international film industry's maverick combinations; actor / director / stuntman / producer - doing it all literally with his unique blend of warm hearted Marital arts.