Jackpot! is a Jackie Chan movie desperately in want of Jackie Chan.
An homage to the good worldwide motion comedy star from screenwriter Rob Yescombe, a online game writer-designer now turning to the massive display, this over-the-top frenetic stew not solely lacks Chan to make it hum, it additionally lacks any sense of credibility with the intention to preserve us engaged with its absurd premise.
Set in a decaying Los Angeles (Atlanta subs for it) in 2026 — two years from now, when the filmmakers apparently suppose America has gone to hell — we’re launched proper from the begin to the Grand Lottery, a contest that guarantees untold riches to whoever can survive truly profitable it and keep away from being killed by the rabid citizenry. But in the event that they achieve knocking you off inside 24 hours, they will get the cash promised by your ticket. Think of it as type of a comedic Purge. Thus, Rugged Man Seann William Scott is in a battle for his life that ends when a kindly older lady (Dolly De Leon) succeeds in offing him and thereby is greeted by Johnny Grand (Murray Hill), the flashy emcee of the lottery who arrives at her doorstep with a examine for $22 million.
Cut to 2030 and the sport remains to be on, this time for an unsuspecting former baby star, Katie (Awkwafina), who’s down and depressed by lack of appearing roles and now solely acknowledged for an previous SpaghettiO’s business as she arrives again in Hollywood. Staying at an Airbnb run by Shadi (Ayden Mayeri), one other aspiring actress, issues go from unhealthy to worse when sewage from the upper-floor house leaks throughout her garments, forcing her to pay for the usage of Shadi’s less-than-attractive wardrobe in time to get to an audition to show her life round. Unbeknownst to her, a Grand Lottery ticket remains to be in one of many pockets, and as she leaves the disastrous audition it goes off, and she or he is holding the profitable prize and instantly is recognized because the winner of the $3.6 billion pot.
All the opposite hopefuls within the casting workplace begin to assault her, main to a different showdown with a bunch of black belts close by. She then relentlessly is pursued by means of the town, even watched by overhead drones. Among these out to kill her is Shadi, who rightly feels it was her ticket, and even the good previous lady (Becky Ann Baker) Katie met on the bus is on her tail. You get the impression everybody in L.A. is a grasping potential hit man in the hunt for the particular person whose luck isn’t so fortunate.
Coming to the rescue is a well-meaning protector, Noel (John Cena), who gives to assist her survive in return for a minimize of her winnings. They get into all types of peril — Katie conveniently has no finish of martial arts expertise — earlier than Noel’s very slick competitors Louis Lewis (Simu Liu), noticing she has some ace survival instincts, is available in for a bit of the motion together with his giant workers and way more skilled lottery safety firm. Katie gained’t purchase into it till he additionally guarantees Noel a beneficiant portion as effectively. Turns out Lewis actually is simply out for himself and has no intention of letting Katie stay, so all bets are off as hell on Earth really breaks out for Katie and Noel.
Disappointingly, Paul Feig, the comedy maestro of the likes of Bridesmaids, Spy, The Heat, A Simple Favor, and the all-female Ghostbusters, directs this zaniness however fails to rein it in for at the very least the primary 40 minutes or so, which performs like a Roadrunner cartoon, one near-miss after one other. It is exhausting earlier than the continuous motion stops to take a breath and we get any semblance of character growth. By then it actually is simply too late. There is an occasional second or two which may qualify as intelligent, notably a set piece inside a Hollywood Boulevard wax museum the place the combatants use the superstar figures as weapons together with Kim Kardashian’s head, nevertheless it doesn’t get significantly better than that, people.
Awkwafina takes on the Jackie Chan-style position and is proficient sufficient to at the very least attempt to provide her some dimension. Cena, persevering with his new profession flip as Amazon’s comedy star after the a lot funnier Ricky Stanicky, is as interesting because the circumstances enable. Liu is ideally forged because the villain and does what he can with the fabric, small reward certainly. Unfortunately for a lot of the remainder of the forged, notably Mayeri, they’re all made out to be maniacal human beings with one factor on their thoughts: kill the Grand Lottery winner in any respect prices. Even Machine Gun Kelly aka Colson Baker turns as much as no avail. The stunt performers are the actual stars right here, so give them an “A” for effort at the very least. James Young will get a key credit score as motion choreographer.
I get that Jackpot! along with its wacky premise is also attempting to be a brand new age It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World , however that 60-year-old traditional used its treasure hunt premise as an actual touch upon the human thirst for greed, and in addition by no means forgot how you can mine for laughs within the course of.
Here’s a thought: Next time why not simply forged Jackie Chan and be achieved with it?
Producers are Laura Fischer, Jeff Kirschenbaum, Joe Roth and Feig.
TItle: Jackpot!
Distributor: Amazon MGM Studios
Release Date: August 15, 2024 (streaming on Prime Video)
Director: Paul Feig
Screenwriter: Rob Yescombe
Cast: Awkwafina, John Cena, Simu Liu, Ayden Mayeri, Donald Elise Watkins, Becky Ann Baker, Murray Hill, Seann William Scott, Dolly De Leon, Machine Gun Kelly
Rating: R
Running time: 1 hr, 44 min
Content Source: deadline.com