The Medallion

Name: The Medallion
Genre: Action, Thriller, Fantasy, Comedy
Released: August 22, 2003
Duration: 88 min
Rating: 38
Cast: Claire Forlani, Jackie Chan, Lee Evans

2003

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Generally unfavorable reviews based on 30 Critic Reviews

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3.8

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Movie Details & Credits

TriStar Pictures | Release Date: August 22, 2003 | PG-13

Starring: Claire Forlani, Jackie Chan, Lee Evans

Summary: Combining the martial arts prowess of international action superstar Jackie Chan with state-of-the-art special effects, this action comedy stars Chan as Eddie Yang, a resolute Hong Kong cop who suffers a near fatal accident while investigating a case involving a mysterious medallion. (Sony Pictures)

Director: Gordon Chan

Genre(s): Action, Thriller, Fantasy, Comedy

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 88 min

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Critic Reviews

Mick LaSalle

The best of Jackie Chan's American movies, a pleasant little action comedy that makes one wonder how other filmmakers could ever get it wrong. Read full review

Steven Rea

Chan's signature mix of screwball comedy and gymnastic derring-do landed him his own cartoon series a few years back, and The Medallion -- with its bumbling spies and bounding star -- is about as cartoonish as live action gets. Read full review

Kevin Thomas

Chan defies time and gravity with remarkable energy, ease and resourcefulness, not to mention charm and humor. He even gets away with a nude scene, not bad for man who turns 50 in April. Read full review

TV Guide Magazine Sabrina Rojas Weiss

Once the action degenerates, the film relies on Chan's charming smile and Evans's mediocre slapstick for relief, making one wish the medallion's special powers could transport them into whole other story. Read full review

Charles Savage

The formulaic movie would be forgettable but inoffensive if it were anyone else posing for blue screen CGI effects. Read full review

Roger Moore

The supernatural stuff is ho-hum, the dubbing is sloppy and the action will only make you pine for the younger, hungrier and more injury-prone Jackie. Read full review

Marc Savlov

One of the Peking Opera-trained superstar's most mediocre films, rivaling last year’s God-awful "The Tuxedo" for sheer messy filmmaking and brazen acts of tedium... Abysmal. Read full review

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User Reviews

Blanche

Jun 24, 2016

I actually thought this film was quite good compared to vast majority of the people here! Okay, so the story didn't really make much sense but I thought it was a good laugh and entertaining at times. This wasn't Jackie Chan's best film, but it's far from being horrific for me. I thought LeeI actually thought this film was quite good compared to vast majority of the people here! Okay, so the story didn't really make much sense but I thought it was a good laugh and entertaining at times. This wasn't Jackie Chan's best film, but it's far from being horrific for me. I thought Lee Evans was actually pretty funny at times too, though he did little to really add to the depth of the story.

After I finished watching the movie, it was worth it in my opinion. Maybe there was something else in this film that helped grip me which didn't translate to rest of the guys here.… Expand

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Jack_Sunshine

Sep 4, 2013

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. 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.

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.

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.

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.… Expand

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Broyax

Jan 18, 2017

Jackie Chan se vautre régulièrement dans le navet commercial depuis un bon nombre d'années, l'acteur est -sauf éventuelle exception sur cette période- bien loin de ce qui l'a fait connaître à Hong-Kong et ailleurs. Le Médaillon en est -si besoin était- un affligeant exemple et le fait queJackie Chan se vautre régulièrement dans le navet commercial depuis un bon nombre d'années, l'acteur est -sauf éventuelle exception sur cette période- bien loin de ce qui l'a fait connaître à Hong-Kong et ailleurs. Le Médaillon en est -si besoin était- un affligeant exemple et le fait que l'on arrive à se demander s'il est pire (ou non) que le non moins affligeant Golden Child en dit long ! qu'on arrive à se demander si Jackie Chan est devenu aussi ridiculement insupportable qu'Eddie Murphy en dit également beaucoup sur le sujet !

L'histoire (!) a été écrite par 5 (cinq !) personnes, je dis "personnes" mais ça pourrait une bande d'imbéciles diplômés qu'on y verrait aucune espèce de différence. Le ton hystéro-bouffon tout du long, si exagéré et outré transforme le film en une mascarade épouvantable qui peut pourtant faire sourire plus qu'on ne le voudrait (lorsque la connerie atteint un certain niveau, on en rit presque à dire vrai).

Si quelques cascades sont plaisantes, elles abusent des câbles ad nauseam et si la réalisation reste en général au dessus de la ligne de flottaison, elle s'abîme malgré tout vers la fin dans d'horribles ralentis flous et saccadés.

Jackie Chan sait s'entourer dans ses navets de bien belles créatures qui connaissent (évidemment) le kung-fu mais franchement Benny Hill faisait de même (sauf pour le kung-fu) et a toujours croupi dans le marasme de son insondable connerie. Il en est de même ici malgré toute cette agitation quasi-épileptique ! c'en est désolant.… Expand

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DannyD.

Sep 24, 2005

This movie was terrible, absolute tripe. The story was all over the place and action just seemed to come out of nowhere. Its actually a little funny to watch - just to laugh at how bad it is. I'm giving it a 1 just forr the line ' bring me the boy - in dublin'.

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