The Medallion

If you like the type of movies like National Treasure and Tomb Raider, but you want a lot more action inserted into the plot, you'll probably really enjoy The Medallion, starring Jackie Chan. It's a fantasy story about a magical ancient medallion that gets sent down through the generations and gives the owner some magic.

Jackie teams up with Claire Forlani, who has some seriously hidden talents. It's really fun to watch her kick and punch like a regular Charlie's Angel. Together, they fight against bad guy Julian Sands (why are we not surprised?) while trying to protect an innocent child, Alex Bao, the rightful owner of the medallion. Along for the ride and for comic relief is Lee Evans, who will probably be the favorite of those who are bored in the audience. If you don't like the fantasy element and just went to see Jackie Chan, you might not like this one. Inane comments and incompetence from Lee might be the only bits that bring a smile to your face.

For die-hard Jackie fans, though, every movie is a treat. This fellow has to risk broken bones, speak in a foreign language, work with children, and manage to not look in the camera. Isn't that entertainment enough?

Despite going on 50, Jackie Chan is still up to his antics in this action and special effects filled fantasy.

What could have been a fantastic film ends up a complete mess what appears due to studio interference. Silly music cues, unfunny 'comedic' moments and sloppy editing (and blatant continuity mistakes) has resulted in a mish-mash of various sequences thrown together to resemble what looks like a plot.

Good points - the special effects. However, I must admit to being biased. Claire Forlani, Jackie Chan and Lee Evans. Good cast - but not put to good use at all. There are very few laughs in this film (but at least there are some!). The fine action work by Jackie and the stunt team. You can't fault that.

Bad points - just about everything else.

This is a film you'd probably best off renting when drunk or when there really isn't much else on the TV.

On DVD, you get a decent enough audio commentary from the producer and editor and some deleted scenes.

"The Medallion" has a pretty good first half: there are enough scenes to prove that Jackie Chan's still got it, from a fight aboard a ship (where he ties a guy's arm to his leg using his own shoelaces and a piece of clothing!) to a fun freewheeling foot chase, and other minor stunts. But after Jackie "dies" and comes back equipped with superpowers, there are no more real fight scenes for him: they are all special effects - enhanced and wired. From a pure martial arts perspective, Claire Forlani's close-quarters fights near the end are the best that the second half of this film has to offer (more proof that Sammo Hung can make anyone look like a genuine martial artist!). The story is basically a rehash of Eddie Murphy's "The Golden Child", and it has a rushed feel to it (it's probably no coincidence that the DVD contains about 15 deleted scenes). But the cast is likable: Forlani is utterly lovely, Julian Sands is ideally cast as the immortality-seeking villain, and Jackie is always Jackie. "The Medallion" will probably disappoint most martial arts fans, but those who like the main actors will definitely get some enjoyment out of it. (**)

Being a long time fan of Hong Kong cinema and a big Jackie Chan fan, I had high hopes for The Medallion. Shanghai Knights was pretty good. When I saw the trailer for The Medallion, it showed Jackie performing as usual plus the cgi crap. But, I wanted to give it a chance. A lot of film experts and other sources of information gave insight into the movie, and it received a lot of promotion. I thought Jackie would return to his original style in this one considering his age. I'm going to look at two perspectives of film, the pros and cons.

PROS - There were two action scenes where Jackie doesn't do any wire martial arts nor requires cgi involvement during the first half of the movie. Given the fact that Jackie is reaching 50, he can still get down. The female lead was great. Claire Forlani exceeded my expectations of the female character, and her acting wasn't really bad either. She gets to do some martial arts herself (couldn't stand Jennifer Love Hewitt in The Tuxedo egh!!!). Lee Evans provides the comic relief along Jackie's martial arts and stunt work. I liked the way Hong Kong and American filmmakers collaborated to do the film. Look out for veteran Hong Kong actor Anthony Wong in a supporting role as the bad guy.

CONS - The cgi incorporated into the film just didn't do it for me. Filmmakers can't use cgi for everything. I'm tired of seeing people running through trees and jumping over things that's not possible in reality. The plot in the film had to many holes and seemed to be rushed at times. Jackie's acting didn't seem to fair well including the chemistry between him and Claire. It seemed to dull. Julian Sands wasted his time in this film. Hope he takes this as a lesson learned. Bey Logan's writing skills needs a brush up before he can continue on in my opinion. I hope he doesn't utilize the same form in the upcoming movie, Kung Fu Master. The mystical kid in the movie annoyed me too much, and he only said two sentences throughout the whole movie. Repeating the Golden Child theme is just ridiculous.

All in all, the movie was alright. Compared to Jackie's recent American releases, this better than The Tuxedo but less than Shanghai Knights. Jackie doesn't have to take every movie offer he can. Take a break and come back with the Police Story series or something. This is a type of movie that can only be seen once or twice if you want to consider your judgement about the movie.

My final vote 6/10

It has taken Jackie Chan about 27 years, a good 60 movies or so, and a few near death experiences for him to decide that he can start making movies that don't regularly involve certain death, thanks to CGI. The results are not so good. In fact, I'll just say it: 'The Medallion' is a terrible action movie.

Jackie plays Eddie Yang, a Hong Kong detective chasing a villain named Snakehead (those villains and their crazy names). Snakehead, like all Hong Kong villains is actually English, so when he kidnaps a boy with the power to control The Medallion, Yang follows him to Ireland to reclaim the Medallion and find the child (who just goes to prove, that even if you live in a Buddhist temple in a sewer below Hong Kong, you can still learn to speak perfect English with an English accent).

Seems like 'The Golden Child'? Why yes, yes it does. Its a fun fantasy movie for kids, but anyone wanting to watch an action movie should watch this up until a short cameo appearance by Sammo Hung and then turn it off very quickly. Now I'm not a fan of CGI action, but I assumed that with Jackie Chan starring and Sammo Hung directing the action - two action masters - could still pull of some entertaining action scenes. Apparently not, as 'The Medallion' is only marginally better than, oh, say 'Charlie's Angels 2'.

Fun for kids, but action fans should avoid entirely. I'm being generous when I give this 5/10.