Twin Dragons - Das Powerduo

This is one of those preposterous screwball action/comedies that uses a case of mistaken identity to drive the movie forward; in this case, it's twins (both played by Jackie Chan)—separated at birth but reunited as adults—that create the chaos, as streetwise, kung fu fighter Boomer gets himself into trouble with gangsters and unwittingly drags his more refined sibling, classical musician John Ma, along for the ride.

With Twin Dragons already split 50/50 for comedy and kung fu, and one of Chan's characters unable to throw so much as a single punch, the film is far from the all out fight-fest one might expect; double the Jackie doesn't necessarily equal double the action, and while Boomer flips, kicks and punches, Ma spends most of his time cowering in fear. Sadly, the amount of action on offer isn't the only disappointment, the predictable and repetitious mix-ups proving more cringe-worthy than chuckle-some, and the effects used to allow Jackie to interact with himself being far from special.

It's not all a total loss, though: Maggie Cheung and Nina Li Chi provide some welcome eye candy as the brother's girlfriends (it says a lot about the beauty of Li Chi that she manages to make Maggie Cheung look rather plain in comparison), and director Ringo Lam finally gets his act together for a rousing fight in a car testing factory, an environment that allows for some impressively dangerous kung fu craziness from at least one of the Chans.

5.5 out of 10, rounded up to 6 for IMDb.

Well the movie itself was good. But! There are only 5 action scenes! The first action scene is a classic so is the car factory fight scene at the end! Also there is bus chase on the streets of Hong Kong. Brief fight scene in a mall. And A boat chase on the sea. And otherwise the movie is funny as hell. But the two great directors didn't make this the best movie there is. This a comedy filled with action. I liked it. BUT ONLY ONE JACKIE CAN FIGHT. So go rent this funny movie with some nice chases, stunts, and fights.

Martial artist Jackie Chan plays twins Ma Yau and Wan Ming, who were separated at birth. One is a street smart mechanic and the other is a classical musician. When the course of events bring the twins together in one city, their lives become entangled with one another, with them assuming the opposite roles of each other.

The plot device for this movie is clever, but the execution was a messy tour de force of goofy humor, poor dubbing and lack of suspense. The first part of the movie was actually pretty boring - the so-called fight at the karaoke scene was a drawn out element. The more exciting part doesn't come until the twins crosses paths with each other, and then they inadvertently take the others' lady friends out (played by Maggie Cheung and Nina Li Chi). Wan Ming trying to conduct the orchestra without knowing a lick about music was mildly amusing, while Ma Yau trying to rescue Wan Ming's friend (Teddy Robin Kwan) from the mob is somewhat entertaining.

Maggie Cheung and Nina Li Chi look beautiful in the movie, but there wasn't a lot of character development on them. There is also cameo appearances from many familiar actors in Hong Kong cinema, but they were underused and most were not dubbed with their own voices (Hong Kong filmmakers used to film movies without audio and then have the characters' voices dubbed in during post-production). However, I do especially like the musical number where Jackie Chan is playing on the piano while Maggie Cheung is singing to Shirley Kwan's song called "Ancient Times." Cheung looked very classy and glamorous in that scene.

There is much action toward the end, but much of the movie is consumed from a plain plot and overboard goofiness. Overall, a less exciting film starring Jackie Chan.

Grade C-

I'm not a particular fan of twins-comedies, but Jackie Chan's Twin Dragons is luckily slightly different from every other such film. For the most part, but unfortunately we still get a few irky scenes. Special-effects wise I have to say, a few of the spliced scenes were a little clumsy but not distractingly so.

Also the film has a lot of great off the wall comedy and something different. The 'twins-effect' which occurs all through the film is a nice element to spice up the plot. Naturally Jackie gives us a brilliant physical performance as well.

The only real problem with Twin Dragons is that it doesn't offer anything particularly new or different from other Jackie films and thus feels a little unremarkable. However, Jackie's fans are likely to enjoy the film.

My favorite Jackie Chan film, a showcase for his physical skill and personal charisma. It has the right amount of fighting without becoming boring and monotonous; it has the right amount of comedy without being over the top. The sex farce is played like Feydeau and yet is handled deftly enough to allow one to take one's older children without squirming on anyone's part. Great!