DIRECTOR GORDON CHAN Ka-sheung has done what was hitherto unthinkable - in his new film The Medallion, he kills off Jackie Chan.
So how did he get the action star to agree? 'When I first told him he dies in the movie, Jackie was very surprised. But I told him it was to save a child and the last shot you see is his smiling face because he is trying to give the child confidence. That's very Jackie Chan and that's what made him agree to it,'' says Chan about EMG's The Medallion (previously known as 'Highbinders'), which opens here on Friday, August 15.
Apart from the small matter of his character's death, in many ways The Medallion is very much 'Jackie Chan'. It sees the actor returning to his roots as the fighting man's hero instead of the comic relief he has pedalled in his recent Hollywood outings. This time Chan plays Eddie Yang, a Hong Kong policeman killed while trying to save a young boy (Alex Bao) with magical powers and an enchanted medallion. With the medallion, the boy is able to resurrect the dead and turn them into 'highbinders' - immortal warriors with supernatural powers.
Aided by two Interpol agents - the bumbling Arthur Watson (Lee Evans) and Nicole James (Claire Forlani) - Yang tries to stop both the boy and the medallion from falling into the hands of an evil Snakehead (Julian Sands). Because of the supernatural aspect of the story, the action star has also bent one of his rules about the use of special effects. Although always interested in the concept of computer-generated images, the actor admits he never knew 'how to combine Jackie Chan action with special effects''.
It was Gordon Chan who finally persuaded him to break through the barrier. 'I told him he had to because Hollywood uses so many special effects. Otherwise it would be like fighting with one hand tied behind his back,' says the director.
The actor insisted it be done the right way. 'I don't want to be flying around, jumping 100 feet in the air - I don't think the public will accept this. No matter how, it has to be believable,' he says.