The Medallion

2003 "Follow the mystery. Fight the enemy. Discover the power of The Medallion."
5.2| 1h29m| PG-13| en| More Info
Released: 15 August 2003 Released
Producted By: Living Films
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Synopsis

A Hong Kong detective suffers a fatal accident involving a mysterious medallion and is transformed into an immortal warrior with superhuman powers.

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sunshinebeachcinema From the start, you know what page you should be on in Jackie Chan vehicle The Medallion. It exists to entertain, not to make any kind of bold spiritual or meaningful statement, even if the plot is grounded in a delightful magical hokum, which may or may not be inspired by certain elements of Chinese mysticism, which I'm sure it takes many liberties with. Still, in this kind of film, a MacGuffin is required to get the plot moving. The titular Medallion is thousands of years old, and grants the holder a host of powers, including strength, speed and immortality. Naturally, some unscrupulous individuals are bound to want to get their hands on this wondrous item, and indeed they do, making off with both it and its child guardian Jai, who has been chosen by the fates as the only one who can activate the Medallion, by binding its two halves.Who's on hand to stop this selfish abuse of ancient power? Hong Kong police officer Eddie Yang, (Jackie Chan). Chan plays his usual role as the dogged nice guy, battling against all the odds, and a seemingly never-ending stream of enemy goons, with only his skill at martial arts to protect him. As ever, it's impossible to dislike Chan, and you end up along for the ride, and rooting for him every time.Lee Evans appears as Arthur Watson, a somewhat incompetent Interpol agent who is partnered with Jackie and becomes his comic foil. Throughout Jackie Chan's extensive filmography, he has been paired with numerous partners, especially in his Hollywood productions that have tended to exploit the "buddy cop" dynamic to its full potential. Lee Evans, for example, is not Owen Wilson, who performs admirably alongside Chan in Shanghai Noon (2000) and its sequel. Similarly, Chan's partnership with Chris Tucker in the Rush Hour film series is, of course, the stuff of cinematic legend.That said, Evans is not a bad choice for Chan's partner. If you like him, he can be endearing, and his character here is written with this intention. However, like many stand-up comedians, he succumbs to the Marmite effect – you either love him or you hate him. If you fall in the latter category, he is likely to annoy you all the way though, and his presence in the film could be a deal breaker.Claire Forlani's character, another agent by the name of Nicole, is an old flame of Eddie/Jackie's. Regrettably, she is not particularly engaging and there is little chemistry between her and Jackie to give credence to their previous relationship. She seems to fill the obligatory role of the love interest to accompany the primary duo into the finale, but I would have preferred to see this role filled by Charlotte Watson (Christy Chung), Arthur's wife, who appears during a fight in the Watson household, revealing herself to be an agent too. Pre-dating Mr. & Mrs. Smith by two years, neither Arthur nor Charlotte have filled each other in on their true professions, but when her family is threatened, Charlotte springs into action. For some reason, nothing is made of this after the scene, and the character does not appear again.Those who grew up watching the animated series Jackie Chan Adventures might enjoy a nostalgia trip when they recognise a familiar sounding villain in the form of Julian Sands, who proves that the stereotype of the well-spoken British villain is still very much alive in his role as the borderline psychotic crime lord known as "Snakehead". At times, this film can feel like a live action imagining of the aforementioned series, where Sands played Jackie's nemesis, a similar villain with a penchant for the theft of mystical items.Gordon Chan directs, as an experienced figure in Hong Kong cinema who has worked with Jackie Chan before. Gordon Chan's other notable works include remakes of Bruce Lee's Fist of Fury (1972): Fist of Legend (1994), starring Jet Li, and Legend of the Fist (2010). As ever, the real star is not the plot or characterisation, but the fight scenes with Jackie, who is well known for performing all of his own stunts, to the point that nobody would insure him. Typically, the director is happy to let Jackie do his thing, whilst the soundtrack plays some pop rock with a groovy bass line. During the finale, Forlani's fight with her female counterpart in Snakehead's organisation is set to a rocking blues guitar solo. Perhaps this choice of score is not surprising; the soundtrack was co-written by Steve Porcaro, one of the founding members of Toto.In a film about a medallion that gives supernatural powers, the most entertaining fights are the most realistic. These are the ones where Jackie fights a number of thugs in an industrial location. Once in the sewers beneath the streets of Hong Kong, and twice on container ships, in Dublin and Victoria Harbour. Once the characters inevitably become juiced up on the medallion's powers, the fights seem somehow less impressive. Whilst events become visually more extreme, and the stakes are technically higher, what with the fate of the world hanging in the balance, conflicts between these newly immortal warriors lack the tension of a fierce urban punch-up. The Medallion's powers do give Jackie the chance to perform near super-human stunts, such as scaling a building, or leaping a large gate in one smooth movement. I'm sure some of these stunts must be his own, unassisted, proving he doesn't really need these powers after all, even if his character wouldn't normally be up to it.This film, while an hour and a half of entertaining absurdity, does not deserve further analysis, nor does it ask for it. Jackie Chan saves this film, simply by doing what he does best. But it is by no means his best work.
g-bodyl I liked this movie even though there are way too many holes in the film. If you compare this movie to the Rush Hour movies or Shanghai Noon, you will probably hate this film. I saw this movie with a laidback mind and expecting nothing more than a fun action movie. That is what I got. The story is about a medallion that has two halves. Each half gives superhuman strength to the user, but you have to be dead first. If the halves are combined, you get immortality. Now Chan and his gang of Interpol cops must keep the medallion and the user, a kid away from the people who want to use the medallion for bad. Jackie Chan is very clever in this film. He acts well and adds a bit of comedy. Claire Forlani also did a great job. Lee Evans was so-so. He can be a bit annoying. The special effects sucked. A rule of advice is never add CGI to a Jackie Chan movie. It will make that movie bad. What is the point of the cat meowing? It made the movie even worse. Overall, this is a good family film, even though it's a bit cheesy. I rate this movie 9/10.
apocolypseii You're 7 years old. Otherwise it is very boring, and full of bad jokes, and even worse accents.The action isn't terrible, but being that its Jackie Chan, its sorta slap-stick in nature, and seems like its meant for kids... I mean look at the rating, lack of foul language, and extreme lack of blood to boot.The only reason I watched it was for Claire Forlani, but I think Mallrats or Meet Joe Black is easily a better choice.Oh, and something that really caught my attention was the extremely noticeable racism during one of the chase scenes... Jackie is chasing a black man, and he keeps evading him by JUMPING over everything, honestly, he has no "moves" like Jackie, except for jumping over anything he sees.Anyway - I give it a 3/10 because Claire Forlani is incredibly cute.
masterjclee erm i didn't find it really satisfying, it wasn't a jackie chan movie, i think if he had more control over the film it would be a lot better. jackie is known for his out rages stunts, for exciting viewers, but in this movie he used a lot of wires, for imitating the superpowers is alright but before when he was just human some of the jumps looked really fake and was just boring and took away the excitement. Lee evans was great i love his humor. I think the scene that lost most of my interest was the scene where he was chasing Johann Myers's character and was jumping over those small tables and barriers and you can clearly see that wires were used for such easy jumps. I think jackie should stop being sucked into these Hollywood/English movies and start creating his own, which i believe hes doing now....for example...the myth (brilliant movie) a must see. i don't think its your fault Jackie, just try not to get sucked into those Hollywood movie areas, you deserve better credit for what you've done in the past!!