It's pretty bad when the out-takes at the end of your movie get most of the laughs.

And Jackie Chan's newest movie is just that - pretty bad.

Intended for a younger audience, the martial artist's movie "The Medallion" was probably better suited to be a plot for his animated series "Jackie Chan Adventures."

Chan plays Hong Kong Det. Eddie Yang on the case of a kidnapped child along with spies Arthur Watson (Lee Evans) and Nicole James (Claire Forlani). The movie takes a turn for the weird when by an accident with a mystic medallion, Yang is given super powers which make him immortal.

Hilarity, or lack thereof, ensues as the three set off on an adventure to find the evil Snakehead (Julian Sands) who wants the medallion for his own evil purposes.

Packed with action but laden with unfunny gags, it is a shame to see someone as good as Chan in a poor movie. He is a strong actor who puts a lot of effort into making family friendly action movies but gets relegated to second banana when he is teamed up with Chris Tucker and Owen Wilson. Chan has been making movies for more than 20 years and deserves more opportunities to get top billing.

In general, Chan is able to combine comedy with action, creating some great martial arts films, and should, at least in my opinion, be in the same category as physical comedians Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton. His physical prowess lends fluidity and grace to fight scenes.

But this time, the fight scenes are bogged down with an awful plot and terrible jokes.

Evans' role as the bumbling Watson is more annoying than funny. His attempts at being funny are met with groans instead of guffaws when he is flying to the evildoer's hideout in a mini, one-person plane, with a road map blowing in his face.

Another disappointment about this movie is its special affects. Every time Chan or somebody else jumps, you can tell if it were with the aid of wires or computers.

And the people behind the Matrix-style fight scenes have a lot to answer for. It was cool the first time, but just about every movie is putting in a slowed-down fight scene with people leaping and kicking in the air. This has to stop. It wouldn't surprise me to hear about some Hollywood producer demanding it to be in "Seabiscuit" even.

"Then during a race, a jockey leaps into mid-air and starts kicking the other jockeys - brilliant."

But what is probably the most annoying part of the film is the odd mix of techno and cartoon music throughout the picture. Every time Evans' character does something remotely goofy, some sort of clown music plays, as if to signify to the audience he is the comic relief. Nauseating with a hint of creepy, even music played in the cartoon Scooby-Doo's chase scenes would have furthered the story better. This just sounded like someone playing around on a Casio keyboard.

But if you have a younger sibling or children, this might be a good action movie to take them to. There is no swearing, nudity or drug use. You just have to deal with a lousy plot, characters you don't care about and losing the money you spent on the tickets.