Who is Jackie Chan

Inspector Wing of the Hong Kong Police Force has become the victim of a gang, led by the evil Joe. When his entire team is killed, Wing becomes a hapless drunk, feeling guilty for the deaths of his team. It is up to a young rookie officer to get Wing back on his feet and begin an adventure to get revenge on the evil Joe and his Gang of Five, especially when it becomes personal.

Jackie Chan, Nicholas Tse, Mak Bau, Tak-bun Wong, Winnie Leung

The inspired pairing of Jackie Chan and British comedian Lee Evans (Funny Bones) gives The Medallion some extra oomph. Hong Kong agent Eddie Yang (Chan) flies to Ireland to track down a very bad guy named Snakehead (Julian Sands, Warlock, exuding his dependable oily menace) who has kidnapped a young boy with the power of life and death. When Eddie dies protecting the boy, the boy resurrects him with a magical medallion--and when Eddie comes back, he's got supernatural powers, much to the befuddlement of his former partner, Arthur (Evans). Along for the ride is Eddie's old flame, Nicole (Claire Forlani, Mystery Men), wearing tight outfits and delivering high kicks. Chan has lost the astonishing elasticity of his youth, but he's still spry enough pull some dazzling moves, and Evans is just amazingly funny. Between the two, The Medallion is far more entertaining than you might expect. -- Bret Fetzer

Jackie Chan, Lee Evans, Claire Forlani, Julian Sands, John Rhys-Davies

Playful Hong-kong actioner "Vampire Effect" is also known as "The Twins Effect" which describes its nature more precisely. The film was a big hit in summer 2003 in Hong Kong partly because its stars -- enormously popular singers, "Twins." The duo Gillian Chung and Charlene Choi play the main characters of the film, kind of the Oriental "Buffy" vamipre killers, and any mention of the name Jackie CHan means just a cameo (though it comes with a good action).

The story is too simple and unoriginal to take seriously. Reeve (Ekin Cheng) is a vamipre hunter whose sister Helen (Charlene Choi) falls in love with ... yes, a handsome and benevolent vampire prince Kazav (Edison Chen). But a villainous European vampire (Swiss-born Mickey Hardt) comes all the way to Hong Kong, to seek for the secret of the holy book, and so on and on. You also meet a novice vamire hunter (Gillian Chung), who naturally falls in love with Reeve.

Just because this film is a vehicle for the two pop idols does not mean "Vampire Effect" stinks. The fact is, because of the participation of Donnie Yen ("Blade 2" or Jet Li's "Hero"), the action sequence is more than satisfactory, and even the two heroines' actions are not bad. Donnie Yen provides very good stunts, especially when he uses swords, and though the girls are not perfect fighters, it is easily felt that they did hard training for the film.

I found the acting "Twins" acceptable, if not great. Though some may hate it, I thought their way of screaming or smiling very cute. And you should remember, this is "Buffy" not runner for the Oscars. If the girls look cartoonish (and they do), why complain? They know what they are doing.

Jackie Chan appears, but his extended cameo (he shows up twice) means a few (but respectable and funny) stunts. This time he uses an ambulance in his fight scenes, and some of them are really hilarious. And see his "marriage" with Karen Mok (opposite to Jet Li in "Black Mask" or the cop in "So Close"), which proves their great comic sense. Also you see Anthony Wong ("Infernal Affair") and Josie Ho.

The effects are sometimes cheesy, but overall decently done. (See the opening "London" station scenes which are in fact shot in Bangkok in Thailand). The film is making fun of some of the rules of vampire films, but the film belongs mainly to martial arts action.

It's a popcorn movie in a good sense, and never takes itself seriously. Still it has some great stunts, plus pretty girls (or vampire hunters). Just have fun, that's all you have to do.
-- T. Nakajima (Kyoto, Japan)

Thieving Muskateers", Slipper (Jackie Chan), Landlord (Michael Hui) and Octopus (Louis Koo) is a 'dreamteam' of "Thieving Muskateers". They are like a bullet out of a gun whenever an opportunity for a heist comes. However, rape and pillage is out of the question, as their principle is never to intentionally hurt anyone.

A bet pits a British inventor, a Chinese thief, and a French artist on a worldwide adventure that they can circle the globe in 80 days.

This version of the classic novel set in 1872 focuses on Passepartout (Jackie Chan), a Chinese thief who steals a valuable jade Buddha and then seeks refuge in the traveling companionship of an eccentric London inventor and adventurer, Phileas Fogg (Coogan), who has taken on a bet with members of his gentlemens' club that he can make it around the world in a mere 80 days, using a variety of means of transportation, like boats, trains, balloons, elephants, etc. Along the way, Passepartout uses his amazing martial arts abilities to defend Fogg from the many dangers they face.. One major threat to their adventure is a detective that's following them. Why? Just as Fogg and Passeportout left London, a major bank was robbed, with Fogg suspected of using the "around the world" trip as an excuse to escape.. Their path from London and back includes stops in Paris, Turkey, India, China and USA...

The 2004 version of Around the World in 80 Days is an entertaining hodge-podge of adventure, comedy, and scenery from across the globe. Phileas Fogg (Steve Coogan, 24 Hour Party People), an obsessively precise inventor, bets that he can circumnavigate the planet in 80 days--considered impossible in the Victorian era. In this version, Jackie Chan plays a Chinese peasant who retrieves a stolen idol from the Bank of England, then convinces Fogg to hire him as a French valet so that Chan can get back to his village. Chan supplies numerous spectacular fights against the forces trying to stop Fogg or get the idol, while Coogan is both funny and a surprisingly appealing romantic lead (he flirts with a fetching French painter who joins them). The various episodes--featuring cameos by Arnold Schwarzenegger, John Cleese, Owen Wilson, and Sammo Hung--are uneven, but a goofy good cheer prevails. -- Bret Fetzer