MOVIE REVIEW: Tracers

Taylor Lautner in 'Tracers'.

Taylor Lautner in 'Tracers'.

Published Jan 30, 2015

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TRACERS

DIRECTOR: Daniel Benmayer

CAST: Taylor Lautner, Marie Avgeropoulos, Adam Rayner, Rafi Gavron, Sam Medina, Luciano Acuna jr, Johnny M Wu

CLASSIFICATION: 13 MLVS

RUNNING TIME: 90 minutes

RATING: **

SHARK Boy gets a bike. Or should that be Wolf Boy goes after the girl? Taylor Lautner (pictured) tries to leverage those kids who grew up watching him grow up on screen, in this serviceable, if staid and clichéd action movie set in New York City.

Lautner is bike messenger Cam, a good-hearted, nice guy who just cannot get a break. He befriends Nikki (Avgeropoulos) and her parkour-practicing friends and learns a little about the philosophy behind free running from a Fagin-esque character named Miller (Rayner)…which may make Nikki the Nancy character, but Cam is in no way Oliver Twist.

If that means nothing to you, this movie is for you.

Anyone who has the misfortune of being held hostage by late night e.tv consumption will recognise the plot devices and clichés like absent father figure, “mysterious” girl with a past, little band of abandoned teens who stick together no matter what, and oh my word, what is with that plot dump?

Anyway, Miller sucks Cam into a scheme he goes along with because he wants Nikki and things predictably go pear-shaped.

Guns don’t run out of ammunition, but that is not a problem because the parkour- practicing guys can outrun them anyway. Of course, Cam has an American classic car.

The title refers to tracing, which is what Americans call parkour, and there are several not-so-well edited sequences of Nikki, her brother Dylan (Gavron) and their friends Hu (Medina) and Tate (Acuna jr) running across buildings and Lautner practicing the craft. Some of the Go-Pro-like shots hint at what could have been quite arresting images, but alas and alack, hand-held shots only get you so far.

The clichés and no tension aside, if you are used to the Disney Channel movies and are now old enough to watch this movie, it will seem amazing, because it is young people in dangerous circumstances and will he get to have sex with the girl? If you have been lapping up the steady Hollywood diet of B-grade action flicks you will simply let it wash over you.

In no way does this pretend to be an art movie about free running, nor is it some indepth character study about the iniquities of those kids who are failed by society. It is not pretending to be anything but a vehicle to build Lautner into an action hero – he has the physicality and a built-in Twilight audience. So expect more of the same.

If you liked Premium Rush or Brick Mansions, you will like this.

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