The Medallion

The Medallion Review

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Aside from other reviewers who apparently have it in for this movie, I actually rather enjoyed it. Granted, I agree that the dub was pretty so-so and a bit corny. But, well, it's a Jackie Chan movie! Were we really expecting Citizen Kane?

I thought the action was good, and generally enjoyed it. Sure, the villain was a bit over-the-top, and the plot premise was a bit hard to believe (not entirely unlike the premise of The Golden Child, with Eddie Murphy), but then again, when is that ever NOT the case in a Jackie Chan movie?

In all, I like the movie. Perhaps not as much as The Forbidden Kingdom. The Myth or the Rush Hour series. But, I figure it's another decent Jackie Chan movie. Happy to have it in the collection.

The Medallion Feature

• ISBN13: 9781404926431
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

The inspired pairing of Jackie Chan and British comedian Lee Evans (Funny Bones) gives The Medallion some extra oomph. Hong Kong agent Eddie Yang (Chan) flies to Ireland to track down a very bad guy named Snakehead (Julian Sands, Warlock, exuding his dependable oily menace) who has kidnapped a young boy with the power of life and death. When Eddie dies protecting the boy, the boy resurrects him with a magical medallion--and when Eddie comes back, he's got supernatural powers, much to the befuddlement of his former partner, Arthur (Evans). Along for the ride is Eddie's old flame, Nicole (Claire Forlani, Mystery Men), wearing tight outfits and delivering high kicks. Chan has lost the astonishing elasticity of his youth, but he's still spry enough pull some dazzling moves, and Evans is just amazingly funny. Between the two, The Medallion is far more entertaining than you might expect. --Bret Fetzer A Hong Kong detective and an Interpol officer work together to save a kidnapped young boy who holds an artifact of mysterious power called the Medallion.
Genre: Feature Film-Action/Adventure
Rating: PG13
Release Date: 1-AUG-2006
Media Type: DVD

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Customer Reviews

Better Than Expected!!! - Pumpkin Man -
It has been a long time since I watched this movie. Tonight, I refreshed my memory and forgot how good it was. Jackie Chan stars as a Hong Kong police officer named Eddie Yang who is working with Interpol in order to bring down a man named Snakehead. Eddie teams up with his girlfriend, Nichole and a clumsy doofus named Arthur Watson. When Eddie dies during his investigation, he is brought back to life by a powerful medallion that gives him superhuman powers. Eddie uses this power to stop Snakehead from using the medallion in a bad way. If you love action and comedy, you'll love THE MEDALLION!!!

"Don't you think I recognize my own thing?' - H. Bala - Carson - hey, we have an IKEA store! - CA USA
"Legend says every thousand years a child is chosen that can bind the two halves of the medallion together and restore life to the dead. Now you get that kid AND the medallion? You're a god." In THE MEDALLION Hong Kong detective Eddie Yang teams up with two Interpol agents (Claire Forlani, Lee Evans) to take down the British criminal mastermind Snakehead. Snakehead (Julian Sands) nurses definite world-conquering ambitions and he sets his eyes on obtaining a mystical medallion which bestows its owner with super-strength, immortality, and other extraordinary abilitiies. But the key lies in the mystical little Chinese boy who controls the medallion, and you'll just have to overlook the fact that even though this sacred kid inhabits a Buddhist temple deep in the sewers of Hong Kong, he speaks with an English accent. The boy falls under Eddie Yang's protection. Eddie's protection kinda sucks.

I like this movie mostly because Jackie Chan is in it, and because I love Claire Forlani and her marvelous eyes, and occasionally Lee Evans's oddball, fumbly comedy stylings ("Interpol, freeze!"). Jackie's physicality is as amazing as ever, and the best sequence here may well be his pursuit of a lanky, particularly agile henchman thru the streets of Dublin. When Jackie effortlessly scales that tall gated wall, whew... But THE MEDALLION demonstrates again that a Jackie Chan picture doesn't fare too well with CGI, and this is because Jackie by himself is a walking, breathing special effects. Jackie has performed his own death-defying stunts for so long that any outside embellishments just seems superfluous; it really feels like cheating. As far as his role in the film, I thought Eddie Yang was handling his business pretty well before he gained all these super powers... although, okay, he did end up drowning to death. The first half of the film is fantastic, action wise. Afterwards, the CG stuff takes over and it's a bit much. Jackie Chan by his natural self is a hard chap to kill. His having super powers, it just doesn't seem fair.

Claire Forlani and Jackie Chan achieve this sort of sweet relationship, although their romance is more lukewarm than anything. Chan has better chemistry with Lee Evans, even though Evans stabs him, experimentally, like a billion times in one scene. Some things to look forward to: Forlani (or maybe her double) shows off some martial arts skills and the wife of Lee Evans' character ends up surprising you. And, as ever, stay tuned for the blooper reel during the closing credits.

I mentioned that I occasionally enjoyed Lee Evans's humor, but a bit of him does go a long way. Mostly, the comedy in THE MEDALLION is pretty painful. Julian Sands as the villain fails to invoke that same sinister presence he brought to WARLOCK. I'm also not feeling his showdowns with Jackie. THE MEDALLION is worth a look because of Jackie being Jackie in the first half. Ironically, when Jackie sinks and drowns halfway thru and is then resurrected, it's really from that point that the movie itself really begins to capsize.


Jul 05, 2010 05:59:05