Cam is a New York Citybike messenger struggling to make ends meet. He rents a garage from a woman, Angie, and her young son Joey. While on a run, Cam wrecks his bike after a stranger named Nikki causes an accident while escaping police officers. Cam is later accosted by Jerry and Hu, enforcers who take his check and cash, warning him that he is behind on payments for a $15,000 loan to the Tong, a local gang that controls Chinatown, and warn him not to miss another payment. Cam spends his free time trying to fix a 1967 Pontiac GTO, which was once his father's, to no avail. The next morning, Cam gets a call from his boss, telling him that his "girlfriend" has dropped off his new bike. Realizing his new bike is a gift from Nikki, he sets out the find her. Eventually he spots her in the park and gives chase. After catching up to her, Cam introduces himself, and tries to copy Nikki's parkour, but fails. He also meets the rest of Nikki's group, who warn him about the dangers of parkour, before leaving. Intrigued by the leaps, bounds and physical prowess of parkour demonstrated by her and her friends, Cam begins practicing and training. Eventually, Cam catches the attention of the group, and is invited to practice with them. The next morning, he is formally introduced to the rest of the squad, Jax, Tate, Dylan, Nikki's older brother, and Miller, the group's leader. After the session, Cam arrives home to find Jerry and Hu taking his father's car, taking off $5,000 dollars off his debt for it, but warn him he has one month to pay the rest of the $10,000, threatening Angie and Joey in the process. Angered that he has put them in danger, Angie packs Cam's belongings and tells him he can no longer stay with them. Now homeless and desperate to clear his debt, Cam joins the group for work. Miller tells Cam that he must follow two rules if he is to join: if Cam gets into trouble, he must call him immediately and to stay out of Chinatown, whether on a job or not. Cam quickly becomes a valuable member of the team. He later visits Angie at work where he explains that he took the loan from the Tongs to help his sick mother keep her house, but that the money wasn't enough to stop the foreclosure and his mother passed away a week after. Later that day, Cam once again runs into Jerry and Hu, who beat him for not having the money and give him two weeks to pay off his debt or they will kill Angie and Joey. Later that night, while out at a party, Cam makes a move on Nikki. They dance together and Cam kisses her. Nikki initially reciprocates, but suddenly runs out of the party. Cam follows her outside and attempts to comfort her. Just then, Miller arrives to pick up Nikki, and Cam realizes that he and Nikki are together. Nikki later approaches Cam to apologizes for not being honest, and they eventually have sex. Cam later invites Nikki to leave the city with him once he clears his debt, but Nikki is hesitant to accept. On the day of their biggest heist yet, the group, without Nikki, pickup Cam. They arrive to a bank run by Vietnamese gangsters. Once inside, the group learns that the money had been moved earlier, and are forced to flee as reinforcements arrive. During the escape, Jax is shot and killed, and Cam is arrested by the police. While being questioned by detectives, Cam is visited by Miller, who reveals himself to be James Hutcher, a corrupt DEA agent. Miller tells Cam he can free him by claiming him as a confidential informant for the DEA, and in return Cam must help him pull off one last heist. Wanting to help Nikki get out of their life of crime, Cam reluctantly agrees. That night, Cam confronts Nikki for not telling him Miller's true identity. Nikki apologizes, and reveals she is indebted to Miller for helping Dylan escape custody for vicously beating a man who had sexually assaulted her. On the day of the heist, Miller, Cam and Dylan make their way onto the roof of a Russiansafehouse, where they plan to steal a stash of diamonds. Nikki realizes Cam is being set up, and races to save him. After stealing the diamonds, Miller kills the occupants and is about to kill Cam, but is stopped as guards arrive and attack them. In the commotion, Cam takes the diamonds and flees, and Miller chases after him. After reuniting with Nikki, he leads Miller into a restaurant owned by Chen, an elderly woman and leader of the Tongs. Chen reminds Miller that he has violated his agreement to never enter Chinatown, and as punishment, has him board a ship headed for Macau, never to return. Cam hands the diamonds to Chen, clearing his debt. Chen suggest they leave the city and departs. As Cam and Nikki leave, Jerry congratulates him for clearing his debt, and returns to him his father's car, now fully restored. Cam and Nikki enter and drive off.
On film review aggregatorRotten Tomatoes, critics gave Tracers a rating of 24%, based on 29 reviews, with a weighted average score of 4.5/10. On Metacritic, the film has a normalized score of 45 out of 100, based on 13 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Called "fun to watch" for the action sequences and energetic use of young actors trained in parkour, the plot was generally regarded as a "B-Movie".
