The Medallion (2003)

User Rating:

4.7/10   

Director:

Gordon Chan

Writers:

Alfred Cheung (story)
Bennett Davlin (written by) ...

Release Date:

22 August 2003 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Action | Fantasy | Thriller

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Medallion | Hong Kong | Interpol | Video Conferencing | Morgue

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Jackie Chan	...	Eddie Yang
Lee Evans	...	Arthur Watson
Claire Forlani	...	Nicole James
Julian Sands	...	Snakehead
John Rhys-Davies	...	Cmdr. Hammerstock-Smythe
Anthony Wong Chau-Sang	...	Lester (as Anthony Wong)
Christy Chung	...	Charlotte Watson
Johann Myers	...	Giscard
Alex Bao	...	Jai (as Alexander Bao)
Siu-Ming Lau	...	Antiquerium Dealer (as Lau Siu Ming)
Diana C. Weng	...	Undercover Woman (as Diana Weng)
Chow Pok Fu	...	High Priest
Tat Kwong Chan	...	Monk
Wai Cheung Mak	...	Monk (as Mak Wai Cheung)
Anthony Carpio	...	Guard Monk

Also Known As:

Highbinders (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for action violence and some sexual humor.

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

Hong Kong | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:10 | Iceland:12 (video rating) | Malaysia:U | Ireland:12 | South Korea:12 | Netherlands:12 | Hong Kong:IIB | Australia:M | Canada:14A | Finland:K-15 | France:U | Germany:12 | Norway:11 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | USA:PG-13 (certificate #39538)

Filming Locations:

Dublin Castle, Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland

Company:

Emperor Multimedia Group (EMG)

Trivia:

The original title for this film was "Highbinders".

Goofs:

Continuity: Jackie uses a "NOD" (night optical device) to check out the dock before they get out of the water, but leaves the lens cap in place.

Quotes:

Snakehead: [after Nicole falls to her death and Eddie is unable to save her, Snakehead tries to persuade Eddie to join him] My brother... don't be sentimental. It's so... unneccesary. It's so human. So normal. You and I will live forever. We are the lords of time. We can take whatever we want, whenever we choose. What difference can a simple life like hers make to us? We are immortal!
Eddie Yang: Let me show you!
[Eddie flies upward to begin his duel with Snakehead]

Movie Connections:

References "Jackie Chan Adventures" (2000)

Soundtrack:

Twist and Shout

It Almost Worked!!

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