The Medaillon


Newest Jackie Chan movie, but not the best.

Well, I adore Jackie Chan, but the movie was far off his usual form. It's an american production - first mistake, as everything has to be secured with wire technique to enable an insurance cover. Every single hop'n drop! In Asia they'd just jump and hope they'd not fall. And if, they'd try to do it better next time. The effect was, that when asian policemen on a nightly mission jumped around and over huge containers on a ship, they looked like ninjas in a video game. So unreal! And everyone who has seen older movies knows that Jackie Chan can *really!* climb over quite huge walls on his own! The second mistake might have been, that Samo Hung was the action director. He has a different style - of humour and of moving. Nothing against Samo Hung personally, he's a master in his skills, too - I just say, show me another fat man who does a flickflack. Ever seen his own series "Martial Law"? The style of fight sequences and -choreography was detectable. It's not bad, but Jackie Chan does it best Jackie-way! What annoyed me personally most, was the short cuts within fight- or flightscenes. It took the charm and thrill out quite a bit. Of course, as in every action movie, some fight scenes were accelerated to cut the edge. Again, it was too often. Jackie Chan's advantage is usually, that he uses these technical supports rarely.
Then most of the movie played in Dublin, Ireland, but did you hear any lovely irish accent? No. And they obviously tried to let Jackie Chan speak longer parts. Excuse me, his english is rotten and who wants to see him act smalltalk anyway? He's a fighter, and part body-comedian!
So, I can't review this film as good as I hoped to. It might excite fans of more american action, but I (as hardcore Jackie-Fan from the very beginning) found it weak. Julian Sands as the Bad Boy was very good matched, though. Next time, they shall cut the crap and make a Hong Kong movie like before. I order it.

Posted: Do - Oktober 30, 2003 at 11:36 Uhr      

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