MOVIE REVIEW

Medallion, The  (2003)

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

Rating: PG-13

Studio: Screen Gems

Release Date: 8.22.03

Review Posted: 9.08.03

Spoilers: None

By Christopher T. Bryan

Too Many Pitfalls Curse "The Medallion"

I 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 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’s unique abilities.

Jackie’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’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. 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 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 Chan’s co-stars Claire Forlani and Lee Evans. The only thing more preposterous than Jackie and 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.

Rating: ê   (out of 4)

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