The Medallion
| The Medallion | |
|---|---|
 US Film poster | |
| Directed by | Gordon Chan |
| Written by | Alfred Cheung Bennett Davlin Gordon Chan Paul Wheeler Bey Logan |
| Produced by | Alfred Cheung |
| Starring | Jackie Chan Lee Evans Claire Forlani Julian Sands |
| Cinematography | Arthur Wong |
| Edited by | Don Brochu Chan Ki-hop |
| Music by | Adrian Lee Steve Porcaro |
| Distributed by | Screen Gems Sony Pictures Entertainment |
Release dates |  August 15, 2003 August 22, 2003 |
Running time | 88 min. |
| Country | Hong Kong/United Kingdom/USA |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $34,268,701 [1] |
The Medallion is a 2003 action/comedy film directed by Hong Kong filmmaker Gordon Chan, and starring Jackie Chan, Lee Evans and Claire Forlani. It was released in 2003 and was much less successful than Chan's other North American vehicles such as the Rush Hour film series, Shanghai Noon and its sequel, Shanghai Knights.
Plot
Eddie Yang is a Hong Kong police officer cooperating with Interpol in the capture of a crimelord named AJ "Snakehead" Staul. The operation is headed by the officiously paranoid Agent Arthur Watson and also involves a former girlfriend of Eddie's, a British agent named Nicole. The investigation leads the team to the kidnapping of a young boy named Jai, who holds the secret to a powerful medallion that gives its possessor superhuman powers and immortality. After a near-death rescue of Jai from drowning, Eddie is given supernatural martial arts powers, which assists him in tracking down Snakehead and putting an end to the arch-criminal's scheme.
Cast
- Jackie Chan as Eddie Yang
- Lee Evans as Arthur Watson
- Claire Forlani as Nicole James
- Julian Sands as Snakehead
- John Rhys-Davies as Cmdr. Hammerstock-Smythe
- Anthony Wong Chau Sang as Lester
- Christy Chung as Charlotte Watson
- Johann Myers as Giscard
- Alex Bao as Jai
- Siu-Ming Lau as Antique dealer (as Lau Siu Ming)
- Diana Weng as Undercover Woman
- Nicholas Tse as Waiter 1
- Edison Chen as Waiter 2
- Scott Adkins as Henchman
Reception
In its US release, The Medallion was No. 5 at the box office on its opening weekend and fell steadily lower during its 10-week release. Overall, it has earned $22.2 million, ranking 42nd among all martial arts films released in the US and eighth among the Jackie Chan films distributed in the US.[2] The film fared poorly with critics and has a 18% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.[3] Some critics and fans of Jackie Chan were disappointed by the use of CGI special effects and extensive wire-based choreography in place of the daring stunts usually present in Chan's previous films and were turned off by the desire to achieve Hollywood-level results with a lower budget.
Trivia
 | This article contains a list of miscellaneous information. (July 2007) |
- The film's working title was Highbinders, the name of an ancient race of mystical, supernatural warriors.[4]
- Martial arts choreography was by Sammo Hung.
- All Cantonese lines were dubbed into English. The editors felt that the movie would be easier to follow if it was all in one language.[citation needed]
- Several other lines spoken in English were also dubbed over, due to the extensive cuts in the film.
- The original director of the film was Reginald Hudlin, but he bowed out due to creative reasons.[5]
- Julian Sands (Snakehead) also portrays the villain, Valmont, in the animated television series Jackie Chan Adventures.
Original Plot and Conception
As noted in the trivia section, the working title of the film was "Highbinders." In the original plot of the film, those who were given power by the medallion became a Highbinder. Snakehead's original goal in the film was to create an army of Highbinders to join in his crime organization.
According to the commentary by the editors of this film, "The Medallion" was not an American-made film, although Columbia Tristar bought the distribution and editing rights worldwide except in Japan, France, and Hong Kong (but these three countries retain the American cut of the film, the only cut ever made). The original cut was meant to be around 108 minutes, and the plot of the film explained Snakehead's crime organization of human smuggling, and the deaths that occurred from it, as well as his desire to create an army of Highbinders to aide his crime organization. All of this, however, was cut to center on the medallion.
Over 20 minutes of these deleted scenes can be viewed on the US Columbia Tristar DVD.
References
- ^ http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=intl&id=medallion.htm
- ^ The Medallion at Box Office Mojo (retrieved on December 3, 2006).
- ^ The Medallion at Rotten Tomatoes (retrieved on December 3, 2006).
- ^ Info and tidbits about The Medallion at Rotten Tomatoes.
- ^ production news and photos at Monkey Peaches.
External links
- The Medallion at IMDb
- The Medallion at Box Office Mojo
- ‹The template AllMovie title is being considered for deletion.› The Medallion at AllMovie