Review of The Medallion (2003) by Guido S — 11 Nov 2013

Pretty much a mistake with Jackie at 49 trying to preserve his action star billing by using wires and some digital tricks. The big problem here is that he's a victim of his own past brilliance - during every scene where he's assisted by wires, we think back wistfully to earlier movies when he performed similar, more dangerous stunts without so much much as an elbow pad. Consequently the best moments spring from old-school Jackie, with assistance from action director Sammo Hung, like his dash through traffic (even getting painfully clipped by a car as seen during the outtakes) and a creative boat fight featuring a hilarious solution to a two-man gun-wielding standoff.

The action is the least of the problems with The Medallion though. Somehow they needed 5 writers to come up with this story that has the least amount of character development and story arc of any Jackie movie, and that's really saying something. Then there's the wrongheaded casting of Lee Evans as comic relief, performing exaggerated physical shtick analogus to his crippled bookworm character in There's Something About Mary. If you think that sounds like a bad idea, you'd be right. And the soundtrack is godawful! You'll find new appreciation for Avril Lavigne with the lone worthy song "Mobile" during the closing credits when compared to the cacophony that came before.

At least Claire Forlani, Julian Sands, John Rhys-Davies, and Christy Chung gamely add flavor to their hopelessly emptily-written characters. To put in perspective, even the Rush Hour sequels are preferable, this one's only for the Jackie diehards.