There is no denying that Jackie Chan is getting old. The elfish actor, best known for his comedic and death-defying martial arts stunts, has toned down his craft in recent films, such as "Rush Hour 2" and "Shanghai Knights," in order to compensate for his dissipating youth.
Sadly, in his most recent film "The Medallion," Chan finally shows the audience that even though he can leap tall buildings in a single bound, he no longer has the traits necessary to be recognized as a superhero of the cinema.
Chan plays Eddie Yang, a Hong Kong detective working with an international police agency, Interpol, to catch a mysterious criminal known as Snakehead (Julian Sands). After getting into a near-fatal accident while saving a young boy, Yang discovers a medallion that has given him immortality and superhuman powers. He teams up with police agents, Arthur Watson (Lee Evans) and Nicole James (Claire Forlani) to discover the secrets of the medallion in order to stop Snakehead from using it for his own desires.
After Chan's last box-office flop, "The Tuxedo," one would think he would opt to stay away from scripts that would give his character uncanny powers. In "The Medallion," Yang falls off buildings, kicks off car doors and flies through forests in ways that disgrace even the lowest-budget, direct-to-video Hong Kong movies.
"The Medallion" feels like a stupefied, live-action version of Chan's syndicated animated series, "Jackie Chan Adventures." The mood of the film is as ridiculous as the worst episodes of that series, while the fleshing out of the characters is so poor that it feels like Bey Logan's script is a combination of two unrelated "JCA" story lines.
There is absolutely no character development in "The Medallion." Yang is the typical, confused, good-guy cop that Chan often plays in his films, minus the wonderfully entertaining martial arts abilities. While Chan makes an attempt to duke it out with forgettable goons and semi-memorable thugs, his prowess no longer grips the audience - especially when it's computer-enhanced. His character simply isn't interesting enough to forgive the lack of creative kung fu.
Yang and agent James apparently had a love life in the past, yet director Gordon Chan makes no attempt to delve deeper into this bizarre and tepid relationship. James constantly cries over Yang and cherishes photos of the two, yet there's little pity for her character. The audience is left not knowing what to think or why.
Lee Evans' character, Arthur Watson, might be the hands-down, most irritating and unbelievable character ever to appear in film. A bold statement, yes, but there is no plausible way that such a sniveling and clumsy imbecile could ever worm his way into an organization as prestigious as Interpol, even in a lighthearted comedy such as this.
Evans, best known as Tucker from "There's Something About Mary," is completely out of place in "The Medallion." Watson pops his head around corners of walls in an idiotic fashion while making faces resembling a constipated orangutan. Suddenly, he is a master of martial arts and is absolutely necessary for the completion of the mission to stop Snakehead. In addition to this, he has managed to snag himself a rather attractive yet unnecessary Chinese wife who is adept at the art of bookkeeping and butt-kicking.
Of course, all this is possible, but only in a world where complete idiocy is richly rewarded. This is a man who would - and should - drown in the rain like a turkey.
Gordon Chan should be ashamed to have his name associated with this abomination, especially after directing martial arts gems such as Jet Li's "Fist of Legend." At least he filmed multiple scenes of James slapping Yang for ogling her.
Ultimately, that is exactly what Jackie Chan needs: a wake up call to show director Chan what he is doing to a name that could once do no wrong.
Photo: Courtesy of SUNY
