Les aventures de Billy Stone: le médaillon sacré

As an old GEEZER (I'll be 66 in a little over 2 months) I liked this movie. Having only seen the trailer on-line a couple weeks ago I pre-ordered the BD which I received yesterday and watched last night. It was entertaining and the story (which is for children and adult children like me!) was simple and yet adventurous. The acting was very good all around but it did have a typical stereotypes, fatboy is stumbly bumbly, girl screams too much, the usual for this type of especially Christian oriented movie.

I did not give it a 10 because of what it didn't include: no deleted scenes and there were several if you watch the "Making of...." feature.

No outtakes or blooper real which should be for a movie like this.

No interview with the main villain, Mark Dacascos one of my favorite action actors. Could not believe it!

On a final note: this movie was actually filmed in the summer of 2008 according to Mr. James Hong's own words in the "Making of...." feature. So why the 2013 release date? I imagine it had to do with finances but it does seem strange. I have heard of other movies that were finished and never released still sitting in a studio vault but usually because they are horrible and everyone knew it.

We are well used to the stories telling us how the white man always saves the gentle but unwashed, simple-minded and helpless tribes of savages. In this turkey, two white kids do the job. Sure, it doesn't have to make sense since its a story made up for kids, but it shouldn't have to smell that bad either, the colonial era being supposed to be over and all that. Add the fact that the proselytiser who improvises this tale ends it with a dose of religious brainwashing and you'll decide if you want to give your kids that kind of messages.

Aside from this distasteful content, the Lost Medallion is also technically unsatisfying. It's corny, insipid, lacklustre. The kid heroes are your typical annoying brats, not playing the parts of kids their age. Plot holes don't matter here, since real children, the intended audience, must be too stupid to notice or care if events make sense. Some beautiful sceneries are pretty much all that's left to enjoy.

Well, this movie is certainly somewhat of a wholesome entertainment for the entire family. Sort of abstractly think a mixture of "Indiana Jones" and "The Goonies" then you are in the vicinity of what "The Lost Medallion: The Adventures of Billy Stone" is like.

This is indeed an adventure movie that the entire family can sit down and watch together. It is a classic tale of good vs. evil in a struggle for a legendary medallion that will grant wishes to its owner. Billy Stone (played by Billy Unger) and Allie (played by Sammi Hanratty) are accidentally transported back in time when Billy happens to make a wish upon the medallion in the heat of the moment, trying to save his father from some goons.

There is a good amount of action in the movie, despite this not being your typical adventure movie for adults, and it is done with moderation, so that it is not too violent or graphical, allowing a younger audience to sit in on the movie as well.

As for the people cast for the various roles and characters, well I must say that everyone was doing good jobs and pulling their weight of the load individually. I was especially surprised to see Mark Dacascos here, especially as I had no idea that he was in this movie. He did a good job at portraying the villainous Cobra.

Actually, I will go as far as to say that "The Lost Medallion: The Adventures of Billy Stone" can be thoroughly enjoyed by all, regardless of age. I am 38 and I enjoyed the movie quite a bit. But of course, a younger audience will have a blast of a thrill ride with this adventurous movie.

This film is basically a fantasy story, which is sort of awkward for a Christian Film. Contrary to what some people may think, Christian films generally portray things that can happen in real life, and not fantasy items like a magical medallion. But the makers of this film came up with a unique solution to this problem, it's set in a real life scenario of a man visiting an orphanage and telling the kids a story that's just pretend to teach them some lessons. The majority of the film consists of this story he tells. This is a great concept that I think more Christian film makers should try, it makes it possible for a fantasy story to work as a Christian film.

The movie is sort of unbalanced in a number of ways. Some parts are very exciting, while other parts are kind of boring- at least after seeing it a few times. It's hard to say what age group it's meant for. Some parts are rather violent and scary, while other parts are more like what you'd see in a cartoon- sometimes bad guys get knocked out by just a little punch, which is sort of pathetic. Some of the fighting is pretty well done, but not all. There are also a couple times in which it almost seems like some clips are missing- at one point they're on a chase in the forest, then suddenly they're in town.

Despite a few issues, overall it's a pretty good film, and a great concept. It's neat that the character who tells the story is played by Alex Kendrick. They couldn't have found a better person on earth to play this role. This was actually what got me interested in seeing it- his movies are beyond outstanding, and it's great that he's now starting to appear in other good films.

My family & I really enjoyed "The Lost Medallion". There was enough action & plot development to keep 2 adults and a 10 year old entertained for the entire movie. The acting was good, and there were great moral themes. I personally am sick of the action "blockbusters" we see where humanistic themes reign and the heroes are worshiped as gods. This was by no means comparable to the big Hollywood films, the production values & special effects would never compare to that. But it was great to see courage & kindness encouraged in children, there was no bad language & I felt very comfortable letting my 10 year old grandchild watch it. The ending message was positive & uplifting.