Tracers DVD Blurb by Shale May 15, 2015 There were no new movies this week that I had to see - thot of Mad Max for a moment but said Nah!. So, I got a DVD that came out this week of a movie that was supposed to be released in theater on March 20 (after earlier announced release dates) but never showed up in the Regal Cineplex on Miami Beach. That was misgiving # one. The second misgiving is that the DVD is released less than two months later and it was $5 cheaper than other DVDs released this week. But, I have enjoyed movies with parkour action scenes such as Brick Mansions with David Belle and saw Taylor Lautner do a little of that action in Abduction so I sprung for the video. There is a term for movies like this - "str8 to video." I checked Rotten Tomatoes after seeing it and the aggregate critics there only gave a 22% fresh and only 38% of audiences liked it. The movie clearly has problems beyond the simple plot and the fact that Lautner keeps his shirt on for the whole movie. It starts with Cam (Taylor Lautner), a bike messenger in NYC who's really good on maneuvering quickly thru busy traffic. But, when some free running kids cause a pile-up that sends him flying thru the air, he crashes onto a cute girl named Nikki (Marie Avgeropoulos). Boy Cute-Meets Girl We also learn early on that Cam is being pressured by Jerry (Johnny M. Wu) a Chinese gang loan shark and enforcer Hu (Sam Medina) because he owes them thousands of dollars. Harassing Fone Collections are Illegal So, broke with a broken bike and the Chinese mob threatening him, Cam being a young street punk naturally runs down the mysterious Nikki and tries to hit on her while she leaves him in the dust free-running thru abandoned buildings in the city. (OK, I came to see the parkour and that's what I saw) Cam practices his free-running parkour and eventually hooks up with Nikki's surrogate family of tracer kids who work for surrogate daddy Miller (Adam Rayner) in well-paying heists that he arranges (more parkour action & Lautner actually does most of his own stunts). Of course there are intrigues and mistrust among thieves and Cam is given a little heart-to-heart by Miller who mentions there is only room for one alpha male, which reminds us of Lautner's previous success in movies. I got the movie because I wanted to see how Taylor Lautner was doing since Twilight. He is growing up and sports a young man scrappy beard in this movie. Acting range is not given too much room to grow here any more than when he was a teen in Twilight. And, tho they have some good camera work actually following the tracers thru the buildings during the parkour action, I liked watching David Belle doing those gymnastics in Brick Mansions more.
I heard this movie is good. But I didn't actually watch it, I don't think this is something I'd like.
