The Medallion (2003)

Crappy film

It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

The Medallion (2003): Dir: Gordon Chan / Cast: Jackie Chan, Claire Forlani, Lee Evans, Julian Sands, John Rhys-Davies: Mediocre Jackie Chan action flick about a mysterious medallion that can render its wearer immortal. In that case perhaps they should have been distributed to everyone who sat through this film in order to deal with its after affect. It opens with a kid that could easily double for the tyke in The Golden Child who possesses a medallion that ends up in the hands of Chan. In the heat of action Chan is killed but the medallion allows him to resurrect. This leaves more questions than answers. Director Gordon Chan details the structure with humour but plot is lame. Nothing makes sense here. We are expected to suspend disbelief at the thought of a magic medallion. Why not just add Santa Claus into the mix? Chan has fun with the stunts and humour but the role is typical Chan. Claire Forlani seems a bit young to play his girlfriend. Lee Evans is very funny however his comic talent is deserving of better material than this. Julian Sands plays a villain that is every bit as foolish as Bozo the clown. The film's basic purpose is to highlight Chan's stunt's and physical capabilities. If that is the case then why not do an exercise video where he throws himself through a brick wall for an hour? Spiritual elements are written rather loosely generating a negative affect on the film's payoff. In the concept wears thin. Score: 2 / 10

I remembered the title of this film (also known as Highbinders) because of the leading actors in it, I knew as well that it was rated the lowest of the low, one out of five stars, by critics, I was intrigued to see why more than anything. Basically Hong Kong police detective Eddie Yang (Jackie Chan) is cooperating with Interpol to try and capture international criminal AJ 'Snakehead' Staul (Julian Sands), who reading ancient historical books is trying to find a "chosen one"; every thousand years a boy is chosen to bind together two halves of a legendary medallion, and whoever has this medallion will gain super strength, amazing speed and ultimately immortality. This boy is Jai (Alex Bao), and one night searching for the criminal Eddie finds him hiding, he saves the life of the boy from a fire, but Snakehead is able to kidnap the boy and takes him to Ireland, so the Hong Kong officer travels there to continue the investigation with Interpol. In Ireland, Eddie is reunited with old flame Nicole James (The Rock's Claire Forlani) who has not heard from him for months, and also Arthur Watson (Lee Evans) who has worked with previously, he is not best pleased to see the Hong Kong officer. They track Jai to a harbour and shipping yard, Jai is trapped inside one of the containers, this container is knocked into the water with Eddie and they boy trapped inside, Jai is kept alive in an inflatable tent while Eddie dies from drowning, but Jai saves his life with the medallion, Arthur is shocked to see him reappear in the morgue, and his original dead body disappears. Jai splits the medallion into two pieces, giving one half to Eddie, and he sees the powers the medallion gives when Snakehead's men come and try to recapture the boy, despite protection by Nicole he is captured again and taken to a castle hideout, and Arthur's family are threatened by the criminal's thugs also, but Arthur's Chinese wife Charlotte Watson (Christy Chung) reveals her secret as being a police operative herself. After discovering Eddie is alive, Nicole joins him and Arthur to infiltrate the castle lair, they manage to get inside, but Snakehead kills Nicole and with the medallion becomes immortal, but Eddie uses the medallion to take away his life, and Jai allows Eddie to use it to resurrect Nicole, together their super powers remain, while Arthur is frightened with Jai entering a portal to another dimension. Also starring John Rhys-Davies as Cmdr. Hammerstock-Smythe, Anthony Wong as Lester and Johann Myers as Giscard. Chan may be charming and do his own stunts as usual, but Evans is sadly annoying with his attempts to do his over the top reactions and a little of his physical humour, the story is highly clunky and full of the most predictable moments, some fight and chase sequences were okay, but I didn't laugh much, this is just a complete mess of an action comedy fantasy. Pretty poor!

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.

I must agree with the slaughter from most reviewers: This film is purely bad, all the way through. The humor could have been appropriate for five to ten year old kids, was it not for most of the "jokes" revolving around violence, relationships and sexual confusion. Most of it even makes Benny Hill mature in comparison. (And, for the record, the acting and stunt work Benny Hill pulled of was waaay better!) By the way, most kids rather watch cartoons when they want funny stuff! Given its PG rating and excessive violence and sex references, I guess the only audience able to tolerate this lowlifemumbojumbo are adults at the intellectual level of infants. If you want to see Jackie, go watch something else!