Taylor Lautner tackles another action role in Tracers, a parkour thriller arriving on Blu-Ray, DVD, and Digital HD TODAY, May 12, 2015. Now here is your chance to win a copy of this MUST SEE action film!
My Rating: 3 3/4 out of 5 Stars
In 2004, District B13/Banlieue 13 hit theaters and introduced many to parkour (the ability to you use only your body and your surroundings to propel you from point A to point B). I was mesmerized, and along with my pals and a few strangers decided that we became masters of parkour after viewing District B13. Therefore, we ventured out into the theater parking lot and JUST knew we could parkour our way from one end to the other. Only by the mercy of a higher power did none of end up in a hospital or dead. I knew after falling on my face that parkour wasn’t going to be something this clumsy person would ever be able to master. So, I resounded myself to watching every film that even mentioned the word parkour. Which brings me to the fun and action-packed film, Tracers directed by Daniel Benmayor.
Tracers stars Taylor Lautner as Cam, a New York City bicycle messenger who is 15K in debt to a Chinese mob crew run by Chen (Wai Ching Ho). Cam is struggling to repay the loan and vig, but he is taking every run he can get to do so. While he is out on a run, a group of individual’s parkour their way through traffic and cause Cam to crash is bike. Crashing your bike might suck, but when a beautiful stranger breaks your fall many things can be easily forgotten and forgiven. Which is exactly the case when Cam lays eyes on the lovely stranger who might have just wrecked his life. The conversation between the pair is short, but as the shipper fangirl I can be, I immediately shipped Cam and the lovely stranger HARD!
Cam is without a bike to work and Chen’s goons, Jerry (Johnny M. Wu) and Hu (Sam Medina), are on his back to get his payments back on track. All seems lost for Cam until that gorgeous stranger resurfaces back into Cam’s life and blesses him with a brand new bike. Cam needs to find out more about this woman and tracks her down by visiting every location in NYC where folks practice parkour. Eventually he does and the action in Tracers begin.
We learn that the kind and lovely stranger is named Nikki (Marie Avgeropoulos) and she is in a crew with her brother Dylan (Rafi Gavron), Jax (Josh Yadon), Tate (Luciano Acuna Jr.); this parkour master gang is run by Miller (Adam Rayner). Miller assigns them a heist where they sneak in and out of establishments grabbing goods for clients. And there are only two rules for Miller’s crew: 1. Call Miller if you get into trouble and 2. Never cut through Chinatown on a run.
Visually the film is stunning; seeing the parkour group maneuvers throughout various locations of New York City was enthralling to watch. And when you add death-defying leaps against evading being shot in the back (and sometimes face) you are set-up to experience some nail-biting scenes. Even with all the action there was a scene that got me a bit misty. Cam went to visit his former landlord Angie (Amirah Vann) and explained why he chose to take out a loan with Chen. This interaction was so sweet and heartfelt and made me adore Cam even more as a character. And by the end of the film, I loved Cam as if he were my bestie because he was able to use Miller’s own words against him to become the victor.
As much as I enjoyed the film and would have gladly added another quarter star onto my rating, I couldn’t because the pacing of the film was a little off to me. I felt the progression for Cam to go from easier jobs to ones where guns were a blazing happened too quickly. Also, as much as I enjoyed watching Cam and Nikki together there were moments where their encounters were so odd that I couldn’t tell if I was witnessing someone who is conflicted by the choices they are about to make or was their behavior altered by a substance they had taken.
Overall, I truly enjoyed Tracers and I think if you like action films and/or are a fan of parkour you will enjoy this 90+ minute ride. Seeing Taylor Lautner in action again was amazing to witness, he had a maturity about him that I haven’t seen before, and I hope this is just another stepping stone for him to become a breakout out action film star.
Thanks to Lionsgate I get so share my love of Tracers with one lucky reader. We are giving away one Blu-Ray copy of Tracers to a resident of the U.S.A. or Canada.
If you are anything like me when it comes to MUST SEE action films and you can’t wait to see if you won a copy of Tracers from We So Nerdy, then go out and pick-up your own copy today from your online or local retailer.