Twin Dragons (1992/1999) Reviewed by Eugene Novikov http://www.ultimate-movie.com/twindragons.html Member: Online Film Critics Society
**1/2 out of four
Starring Jackie Chan, Maggie Cheung, Teddy Robin Kwan. Rated PG-13.
I've always been a sucker for Jackie Chan, the limitlessly energetic martial arts star who has in the past couple years established a fan following as well as a solid film presence in the US. His recent films have been of widely varied quality; Mr. Nice Guy didn't cut it but Rush Hour, with Chris Tucker, was a delight. And with the success of the latter film, it comes as no surprise that Hollywood is bringing back one of Jackie Chan's older films, made in his native country.
Released in Japan in 1992 under the title Shuang long hui, Twin Dragons is, like most of his other films, just as much of a comedic endeavor as it is a martial arts one. It has Chan in a dual role; he plays Boomer, a mechanic/martial artist as well as Mr. Mah, a maestro and musician. Boomer and his pal Tyson are running away from some thugs that want $300,000 that they won from them in a bet; money that neither of them happen to have. Meanwhile, Mr. Mah prepares for a big concert.
Well it just so happens that the twins, separated at birth, are somehow linked so that when Mah plays the piano, Boomer's hand starts to move as if he was playing the piano, and when Boomer is on a boat, Mah acts like he is on a wild boat ride, etc. This mysterious connection, of course, becomes useful when the two meet up and go to rescue Tyson from the thugs that kidnapped him.
Those that found the Japanese Godzilla movies with bad dubbing charming will certainly enjoy poking fun at this abysmally voiced adventure, where you can almost see the dubbers struggling to do the voiceover correctly. Still, although the dubbing is incoherent and the plotting nonsensical (the telepathic link part makes no sense and the thugs are awful villains), Twin Dragons is lots of fun, not only because of Chan's relentlessly amazing stunts but also because of his comedic skills. There are some hilarious scenes in what is essentially a mistaken identity caper, most of them involving trying to hide one of the twins from an unsuspecting supporting character who just happens to be walking in at that moment.
Twin Dragons was successfully preempted by Jean-Claude Van Damme and his Double Impact, which, incidentally, was the only Claude movie I really liked. That doesn't render Twin Dragons worthless because there's certainly some fun to be had with good ol' Jackie Chan and some humorously self-effacing co-stars. The climax and ending are a mess, but some individual parts are quite funny, and I couldn't help but enjoy the movie as a whole.
It is worthwhile to note, however, that despite the enjoyably hokey screenplay, this is a rather poorly made, low-budget film. The effect of two Chans on the same screen is abysmal, and some special effects (such as rigs and wires) are botched as well. Whether this takes away from enjoyment of the picture is up to the individual, but it never helps.
Despite the fact that Chan is 45 years of age, it isn't unreasonable to assume that with his popularity, he'll stick around for a while, both in the US and in Japan. I never get tired of watching him perform, he is adorable, charming, and very, very cool.
©1999 Eugene Novikov ‰
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