How the Jackie Chan vehicle Skiptrace, a 2016 US-Chinese co-production from Hollywood director Renny Harlin, turned the conflict into a culture clash

Born in Finland Renny Harlin made Hollywood blockbusters like “Die Hard 2” (1990) and “Cliffhanger” (1992) until the mega-hit “Cutthroat Island” (1996) sent him relegated to the lower leagues.

When he was scouting Asian locations for a Genghis Khan biopic, he discovered that “China left a mark on me,” as he told Forbes.

When 9/11 forced the cancellation of his next project – Nosebleed, a Jackie Chan film set in the World Trade Center – the director decided to head east. “I put all my chips on red and spun the wheel,” he said.

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Even though Harlin breaks new ground in Skiptrace, at least the plot feels familiar – it's exactly the kind of fun action film he made in the 1990s.

While hunting for a gangster called “The Matador,” Hong Kong detective Benny Chan (Chan) sees his partner Yung (Eric Tsang Chi-wai) murdered.

Chan vows to take care of Yung's daughter Samantha (Fan Bingbing) and ends up in a relationship with American gambler Connor Watts (Knoxville), who has defrauded corrupt casino owner Victor Wong (Winston Chao), also Samantha's boss.

When Wong kidnaps Samantha, Chan is forced to bring Watts to him – the only problem is that he was kidnapped by Russian gangsters.

Fan Bingbing as Samantha (left), the daughter of Jackie Chan's partner, and Johnny Knoxville as American player Connor Watts (right) in a still from “Skiptrace”.

Keyword: A trip from Russia to Hong Kong, during which the unlikely couple slowly begins to get closer – like “Midnight Run” (1988), which was relocated to Mongolia.

The title refers to a tracking device that allows Wong's henchmen to catch up with her at inopportune moments.

After nearly 40 years in the business, Harlin knows what he's doing. Compared to many Chinese films, Skiptrace is reasonably well directed; Chan and Knoxville have a lot of charisma; And there are some entertaining set pieces, such as a heist in the stilt-house village of Tai O in Hong Kong, where the houses fall like dominoes into the sea.

But the culture clash that gives the film its spark also threatens to doom it. The script by Jay Longino and BenDavid Grabinski often feels like it was translated by bots.

Film director Renny Harlin in Hong Kong in 2019. Photo: Edmond So

“You want justice for your partner – I understand that – but your obsession with this case has taken a toll on you personally,” warns angry police chief Captain Tang (Michael Wong Man-tak).

The eye-catching locations may have been chosen by the Chinese Tourism Association, with the two coming across a Kongming Lantern Festival and the Monihei Mud Carnival. “Are you on Wikipedia all the time?” Watts asks Chan as they interrupt another narratively convenient meeting.

The awkward cross-pollination of cultures reaches its climax in the deeply strange moment when, after a drinking session in a Mongolian village, Chan performs a version of Adele's “Rolling in the Deep,” accompanied by traditional instruments.

Jackie Chan as Hong Kong detective Benny Chan in a still from Skiptrace.

“I never would have thought you were an Adele fan,” Watts says, his face admirably serious. “'Rolling in the Deep' is a classic,” Chan says, as if to say the case is closed.

“I thought it would be a great East-West-Mongolia-meets-rest-of-the-world scene,” Harlin told Slash Film. When Watts returns the favor and sings Chan's 1991 hit “Please Understand My Heart,” all is lost.

Fittingly, the release was just as one-sided as the film. In China, it grossed $62.2 million in its first weekend, making it Chan's biggest opening ever. However, in America it grossed $1,792 on limited release and then quietly disappeared into the streaming space.

Fan Bingbing in a still from “Skiptrace.”

It may have been a mixed blessing for his producers, but for Harlin it was the start of a lucrative second act, directing Chinese-language films like “Legend of the Ancient Sword” (2018) in China.

“You can do anything in China,” he said. “Nothing is impossible in China.”

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