Tracers

The two young stars, Canadian beauty Marie Avgeropoulos and Taylor Lautner, are both considerably better than the material.

Which is a back-handed compliment since the material is pretty terrible.

What you have here is a targeted-to-young-audience "street drama" with pretensions of being an action thriller because of the backdrop of Free-Jumping. In fact the closest antecedents would be the "crime dramas" of the 1940s. Sort of.

That is a lot of ambition here and very little in the way of delivery.

There are problems galore. The script is all over the place. Sometimes it thinks it is a rom-com. Sometimes it thinks it is a Van Damme knockoff. And sometimes it thinks it is West Side Story.

The free-jumping scenes are over-directed. What that means is that while the film tries to maintain a "street cred" sort of realism, the action scenes are so well choreographed you might think you were watching a music video. This creates dissonance, which does not help the viewer experience.

And the action climax, the last 10 minutes which is where most films get to shine, is actually weaker than the first 10 minutes, where the romance starts. Which is hardly a great recommendation.

Bottom line: the two stars deserve better. Much better.

He's handsome, she's gorgeous. He owes money lenders a lot of money, she's has some dough. It's your usual boy- meets-girl flick, but this time, there's a lot of running around and jumping, all in the name of parkour.

The only thing that kept me awake was the action, which, after awhile, got a bit blasé.

Lautner's character may have got into trouble because his desire to pay off his debts, but it certainly doesn't absolve him from using ill- gotten wealth to clear them.

2 out of 5 stars

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Had never heard of this movie until the other night when I was looking for something new to watch. I was entertained enough to stay up late to finish it and have watched the parkour parts of the movie a few times more. I love the music.

Caught up in a dicey loan deal, Cam (Taylor Lautner), a New York bike messenger stumbles into the exhilarating world of parkour when he crashes into Nikki (Marie Avgeropoulos), a beautiful stranger. Quite reluctantly, Nikki introduces Cam to her crew of freerunners who appear to have some shady undercurrents. Desperate to be free of his debt, Cam gets caught up in a criminal world that begins to crumble around him as he struggles to protect that which is most important to him.

The slick parkour adds dynamic flair and physicality to the fight and chase scenes, while the seamlessly captured rhythm of the choreography makes the thrilling action easy to follow. The rapid pace forces you to keep moving forward, not allowing time to look back, much the same as the parkour requires you to constantly consider the next obstacle. The tactile sport serves the gritty aesthetic well and Lautner's ease of ability in the parkour scenes is mesmerising.

Apart from the action, Tracers offers an authentic look at the difficulties faced by people desperate to find their place in the world. The sincerity of the plot enables you to connect with Cam's plight, but the film avoids drowning in it's own drama by not taking itself too seriously. The initial scenes are fun and full of youthful exuberance as Cam hones his new skills, but as the stakes become higher, he must use these skills to stay alive.

Tracers is an action packed adrenaline rush with some gripping twists. Fans of freerunning will appreciate the integration of the sport while action lovers will enjoy a fresh perspective on the genre. There is nothing exceedingly complex to be found here, although the thrilling finale will leave you needing a moment or two to catch your breath.

The werewolf from Twilight plays a down on his luck bike messenger who gets involved with a group of Parkour trainers that get him evolved in a criminal delivery service for extra money.

The action in the movie is pretty excellent. I remember Parkour from back in 2004 when I first saw the French film, District 13 followed by the opening sequence in Casino Royal a few years later, but other than the remake of District 13, Brick Mansion, the discipline has not grown past YouTube videos. That's sad, cause it works so good for chase scenes, which this movie had a lot of good ones.

It was cool seeing Taylor Lautner do Parkour, and he really does do it, at least the basic stuff. If your a fan of his, you'll love that.

Released by Saban films, the guys who brought us Power Rangers, it has a very kid friendly Disney-like vibe to it, only a little edgier to appeal to more teens and young adults. Reminds me of Rooftops (if you haven't seen Rooftops, you have to)

I'm actually fine with the Idea of Lautner trying to be a Teen hearthrob/action hero. I found this movie as enjoyable as I found his John Singleton directed action thriller Abduction. It was fun to sit threw and I kinda hope he makes more. Seriously!