The Medallion (2003)

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:

Slap In The Face | Flying | Underwater Scene | Poison | Interracial Marriage

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
Chan Tat Kwong	...	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:

Malaysia:U | South Korea:12 | Iceland:10 | Netherlands:12 | Iceland:12 (video rating) | Ireland:12 | 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:

According to tour guides at Dublin Castle in Ireland, Jackie Chan hopped onto the throne during filming of The Medallion (2003). This made him the first person to sit on the throne since King George V.

Goofs:

Continuity: The picture that the detective shows Eddie and his sidekick shows the Hong Kong thief with a bowler hat and glasses, but in a later shot, the picture on the page has no glasses nor bowler hat.

Quotes:

[Looking at his own corpse]
Eddie Yang: Is my nose really that big?

Movie Connections:

References "Lee Evans: So What Now?" (2001)

Soundtrack:

Twist and Shout

Fun fantasy, and not much else

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.