Double Dragon

In 1991 Jean Claude Van-Damme played separated twins in "Double Impact." The two were from different worlds and different countries, the only real difference between "Double Impact" and "Twin Dragons" is that in "Double Impact" both twins could fight.

In "Twin Dragons" a set of twins get separated as babies. One baby was taken to the U.S. to be raised where he became a world reknown pianist and orchestra conductor. The other baby stayed in Hong Kong where he learned to fight and was always running afoul of the law.

The two came together in Hong Kong when Ma Yau (the American raised twin) had a performance in Hong Kong. With the two in the same place at the same time all kinds of comedic mix-ups occurred.

"Twin Dragons" could've been better had the plot been a little less convoluted and the subtitles slower. These were the fastest subtitles I've ever seen. The movie wasn't quite as acrobatic or creative as the last Jackie Chan movie I'd seen titled, "Operation Condor." That one was directed by Jackie and he had a big hand in the fight choreography as well. "Twin Dragons" is not bad, just not up to level I began to expect from Jackie by the 90's.

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-

"Twin Dragons" is both a funny and action packed movie. Two twins are separated at birth. One learns to take care of himself after living on the streets... the other becomes a talented musician.

Hilarious complications ensue when one is mistaken for the other...

This is a very entertaining movie. Jackie Chan excels in both roles- and the martial arts (especially in the last scenes) are incredible. There is also a lot of brilliantly timed comedy. Even the music score is excellent.

Watch for brief appearances by many of Hong Kong's top directors- Kirk Wong (director of "The Big Hit" and "Crime Story") as "Crazy Kung", John Woo ("The Killer" "A Better Tomorrow" are two of his best movies) as a priest... Tsui Hark's scene is especially funny. Lau Ka Leung (director of "Drunken Master II") and Ringo Lam also appear.

Don't miss this movie.

Lots of karate antics, action, and lovely ladies as 2 Jackie Chans' try to outfox a band of hooligans intent of their demise. Slapstick humor all the way as Chan escapes one impossible to escape mess after another. This was a funny film, but it got a little trying at times keeping up with who was who.

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.