This Medallion is Tarnished

Film fans may remember a 1986 Eddie Murphy comedy called The Golden Child about a reluctant "Chosen One" assigned to protect a holy child. The new Jackie Chan film The Medallion takes a similar premise but adds more action and gives the child's protector supernatural powers. Unfortunately, it tries to be a comedy too, and in that respect it fails.

The Medallion begins in Hong Kong, where officer Eddie Yang (Chan) is working with Interpol to catch an enigmatic criminal known as "Snakehead" (Julian Sands). Two things are clear right away. First, the head of the Interpol squad, Arthur Watson (Lee Evans), is a moron. Second, he and Eddie will be best "buddies" by the end of the movie.

Snakehead is headed for a sacred Buddhist temple, but the Interpol agents mistakenly pick the wrong one. Eddie stumbles across the right one, and finds Snakehead attempting to kidnap a Buddhist holy child named Jai (Alexander Bao). Eddie rescues the boy from the burning temple, but Snakehead's goons finally capture the boy and spirit him away to Ireland. So, (as happens in most of Chan's movies) Eddie must leave Hong Kong and travel abroad in the name of justice.

Little does Eddie realize that journey will reunite him with Watson and a female agent, Nicole James (Claire Forlani), with whom he has some history. Together the three must discover the whereabouts of the child before Snakehead. The villain knows the young child was prophesied to join two halves of a sacred medallion. Once this medallion is whole, it will endow its wearer with strength and immortality. I'll give you one guess who gets the medallion first.

As usual, the martial arts are the highpoint of any Chan movie. A chase scene through the streets of Ireland with a lot of jumping, climbing, and nearly unreal balancing is the most awe inspiring scene. Sure, there are more amazing moves later in the film after Eddie is embued with power from the medallion, but those moves are more special effects than martial arts.

Many of Chan's recent movies have relied on comedy or special effects to fill the gap where his aging body is unable to compete with younger martial artists. The wonder of Chan's movies, however, was in the beautifully choreographed stunts that relied on his abilities, not special effects. The Medallion comes off as a poor special effects film, rather than a showcase for Chan's prowess.

The comedy (if it can be called that) centers around the bumbling Interpol agent, Arthur, who plays his part like a spastic Mr. Bean. The jokes are the kind that seem as if they should be funny, but the comedy was lost in the translation. Arthur, for example, has never told his wife he works for Interpol, so there's a running gag about Eddie, Nicole and Arthur being "librarians." Ho, ho. So funny. Not.

Murphy's The Golden Child was considered a low point in his career (remember, it would be another 16 years before The Adventures of Pluto Nash hit the screen), but it still pops up now and then on cable. Having seen a fair number of Chan's movies, I can honestly say this isn't the worst film he's ever made, but it's not his best either. Nevertheless, Jackie's fans will find this an amusing selection... even if they wait until it shows up on the small screen.

MY RATING: 5 out of 10.

RATED:
RUN TIME: 90 min.