DVD Movie Rating for: Medallion

Rating The Medallion 3 out of 5 stars , great Jackie Chan action and humor movie with some Matrix-style martial arts figting

Movie Plot of: Medallion

Action superstar Jackie Chan (Rush Hour 2, Shanghai Knights) combines his high-flying style with state-of-the-art special effects as he unleashes the power of THE MEDALLION, the film Roger Ebert gives a big "Thumbs up!" Jackie Chan plays Hong Kong detective Eddie Yang, who works with the beautiful Interpol agent Nicole (Claire Forlani from Meet Joe Black and The Rock) and the bumbling agent Watson (Lee Evans of Mouse Hunt) to try to rescue a boy from the clutches of the villainous Snakehead (Warlock's Julian Sands). But when a fatal accident ends his life, Eddie is brought back to this world with the help of THE MEDALLION and is supercharged! Now empowered with superhuman strength, Eddie sets out to thwart Snakehead's plan for world domination. Filmed on location in Hong Kong, Thailand, and Ireland. Jackie Chan has got the power - and kicks THE MEDALLION into high gear!

DVD Production Details of: Medallion

Starring: Jackie Chan, Lee Evans, Claire Forlani
Director: Gordon Chan

Format: Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby
Aspect Ratio(s): 2.40:1
Audio Encoding: Dolby Digital 5.1
Rated:
Studio: Columbia Tristar Home
DVD Release Date: June 1, 2004
Run Time: 88
DVD Features:
Available subtitles: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 5.1), Commentary by producer and editor Commentary by producer and editor
15 deleted scenes

Medallion DVD Easter Eggs

None

Cast of the movie: Medallion

• 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
• Bruce Khan .... Snakehead Thug
• Nicholas Tse .... Waiter
• Edison Chen .... Waiter
• Scott Adkins .... Henchman
• Matt Routledge .... Henchman (as Matthew James Routledge)
• Reuben Langdon .... Henchman (as Reuben Christopher Langdon)
• Mark Strange .... Henchman (as Michael Strange)
• Hiroyoshi Komuro .... Henchman
• Han Guan Hua .... Henchman
• Neilí Conroy .... Interpol Receptionist
• Billy Hill .... Miles Watson
• Tara Leniston .... Jai's Nurse
• Nicola Berwick .... Kidnap Nurse (as Nikki Berwick)
• Paul Andreovski .... Kidnap Porter
• Howard Gibbins .... Professor of Archeology
• Rick Nathanson .... Physician
• Alfred Cheung .... Chinese Professor
• Mona Lynn .... Astrologer
• Kirk Trutner .... Hippie Scientist
• Ricardo Mamood .... Interpol Agent Martin
• Matthew Sturgess .... Interpol Agent Harrington
• Chris Torres .... Henchmen

Photo Gallery of the movie: Medallion

Click on one of the thumbnails to see the full size high quality photos, posters and wallpapers of The Medallion

The Medallion

Reviews of the movie: Medallion

The Medallion is the story of a mysterious child who was born in the fourth month of the Year of the Snake. This child has the ability to join two halves of an ancient medallion that allows him to grant dead people immortality and supernatural powers. Jackie Chan plays a Hong Kong police officer who must protect the child from an Englishman known as Snakehead (Julian Sands), who plans to use the child for his own evil purposes. Jackie is joined by two Interpol officers named Watson (Lee Evans) and Nicole (Claire Forlani) in a story that starts out in Hong Kong and soon finds itself in the land of the beer and the cell phone, Dublin, Ireland. As much as I enjoy the charisma, the smile and the stunts of Jackie Chan, there was not much Jackie could do to save this movie. It is slow-moving, poorly edited, has special effects that have a real amateurish feeling to them and has more loose ends than Monika Lewinsky. In one scene, the wife of one of the Interpol officers is under attack. The wife is a librarian yet she has weapons hidden in her house and knows martial arts. We are never told how she got these talents. This is one of the loose ends that I can remember from the movie. There were probably other loose ends but much like the movie itself, they were forgettable. The Medallion is not the worst movie I have seen this summer. There are a few Jackie stunts that are fun, Lee Evans (from There's Something About Mary fame) has a couple of funny scenes (although only about 50% of the humor he uses in the movie is actually funny) and Claire Forlani is hot. I like Jackie's own form of almost non-violent violence, if that makes any sense at all. He does not use weapons to kill people, he just seems to use a humorous form of violence to put them temporarily out of commission. Oh, and in what seems to become a Jackie Chan trademark, the outtakes at the end of the movie are okay. But overall, not even the likeable Jackie Chan can make The Medallion an even remotely likeable movie.

Always go to Jackie Chan movies with high expectations; admittedly though they are not for a great script, or even mediocre acting. I am in the theater to see Jackie Chan perform. He has become a world known stuntman and Martial Artist, and it is these stunts that make the sub-par scripts and acting bearable. Unfortunately, The Medallion, which puts Jackie Chan yet again in an odd-couple pairing with Claire Forlani and Lee Evans, offers fewer of the stunts that we have come to expect from Jackie and additionally insults the audience and Martial Arts in general by digitalizing Jackie Chan's unique abilities.

Jackie Chan's latest foray into American theaters is as a Hong Kong cop named Eddie who along with Interpol agent Watson (Lee Evans) is looking for the medallion, a snake and serpent type of necklace which has been stolen by Snakehead (Julian Sands). The medallion has the special power of bringing dead people back to life and making them invincible and immortal. The chase for the medallion takes Eddie from Hong Kong into Ireland where he meets his ex-flame Nicole (Claire Forlani). Throughout the pursuit the medallion repeatedly changes hands giving its bearer special abilities.

The Medallion will not bring Jackie Chan any new admirers; in fact, it may do the opposite. This is the first film in Jackie Chan's career that takes his natural Martial Arts skills and digitally alters them. In a day and age when some television shows are completely digitized, and with the public throwing around terms like bullet-time, special effects have to be done right or not at all. Jackie Chan's impressive abilities are given a cartoon-like quality which falsifies his motions. Movies today can take any slob off the street and turn them into the latest ninja; look at Keanu Reeves, mere months of training for The Matrix paired with the highest quality digital effects made Keanu Reeves appear as a Martial Artist champion. The effects in The Medallion have the reverse outcome, making it look as though Jackie cannot perform his own stunts and that his talent is due to computer rendered images not a lifetime of study.

Without the natural magic of Jackie Chan the other shortcomings of The Medallion become all the more glaring. Two pitfalls that made it past the editing room are Jackie Chan's co-stars Claire Forlani and Lee Evans. The only thing more preposterous than Jackie Chan and Claire Forlani 's supposed romantic relationship is the fact that this flame is reignited during the course of the film. These two have all the chemistry of Britney Spears and Carrot top; watching them kiss was like watching my Grandpa frenching my Grandma; awkward, gross and something that I don't care to see. Lee Evans, who has an impressive body of work, but will only be recognizable to U.S. audiences for his role in There's Something About Mary as the pizza boy, is extremely out of place as an Interpol agent and he couldn't inject an ounce of humor into his spy persona as Rowan Atkinson did in Johnny English.

It's time for Jackie Chan to realize that his pairings with B-level stars is doing nothing for his career. There is no end in sight, and with the third Rush Hour beginning production it looks as though what has become an overdone formula will indeed continue. After Jennifer Love Hewitt and Claire Forlani, maybe Jackie's next pairing should be with Beyoncé Knowles.