The Medallion (PG-13, 2003)

In THE MEDALLION, Jackie Chan plays Hong Kong cop Eddie Yang. A bad guy named Snakehead (Julian Sands) is after a medallion and the child who can give it the power to grant eternal life. Working with officers from Interpol (Lee Evans as Watson and Clare Forlani as Nicole), Eddie chases after Snakehead and his henchmen, from Hong Kong to Ireland. Along the way, both Eddie and Snakehead get medallion-ized superpowers.

It's fun to see Jackie try out his new powers, but no amount of flying around or recovering from massive injuries will ever be as magical as seeing Jackie fight when he was at his best. Back in the day, Chan was his own special effect, and that was plenty special enough. After all those years and broken bones, it isn't surprising that he is ready to let the technology do some of the work for him. And it isn't surprising that Chan sees some appeal in a story about a charm that can bestow eternal life and strength. But it isn't as much fun.

Jackie's action scenes are still 90% of what this movie has to offer, and there are a couple of good ones, including an extended chase that is pretty exciting, even though it relies on wires for some of the best stunts. The rest is just dumb jokes (an extended double entendre exchange that has some of the Interpol cops thinking that Eddie and Watson are gay, some potty humor), a brief love interest, and the aforementioned special effects.

Studio: Columbia Tristar
Director: Gordon Chan
Cast: Claire Forlani, Jackie Chan, John Rhys-Davies
Genre: Action/Adventure
Run time: 116 minutes
Theatrical release: August 22, 2003
DVD release: December 23, 2003
MPAA Rating: PG-13
MPAA explanation: action violence and some double entendre