Double the Punch?
Latest Chan Release Doesn't Hit Very Hard

This is my fourth review of a Jackie Chan movie since I began posting reviews to the Net. The last one, Rush Hour, was a departure from his pure action flicks, and seemed to signal a new acceptance of Jackie in America. And while I am still a big fan of Jackie and his body of work, I have to be honest and tell you that Twin Dragons is not one of his better movies.

Originally made for Hong Kong audiences in 1992, Twin Dragons suffers from one major problem. Like most of Jackie's movies, it hangs on a threadbare plot, but this one is unusually laughable and often corny. In this case, Jackie plays twins separated at birth. John is raised by his parents and given every advantage. He becomes a symphony conductor. The other, Boomer, is raised by a drunken woman on the streets where he has to learn to fight to stay alive. He becomes a mechanic and a race car driver.

As one can imagine (and it's not hard!), the two brothers eventually cross paths and the stereotypical mistaken identity shtick ensues. For the most part, it's nothing we haven't seen before. Yet, while the brothers are unaware of each other, they can feel what the other one feels. This leads to silly antics, such as when Boomer is on a boat and John is having dinner in a restaurant. However, this weird bond they have becomes a key later in the movie.

Adding to the confusion of the duel identities are Barbara (Maggie Cheung) and Tammy (Nina Li Chi), two women who originally hook up with one of the brothers but then becomes seduced by the other. Neither woman offers anything to the movie except silly reactions to the different brothers and a lot of screaming and fainting when the two are seen side by side.

The camera tricks employed to show the actor twice in the same scene are so bad that it appears the film was made in the late '70s. The special effects in Back to the Future II were a thousand times better, and it was made four years earlier. Granted, the fact that this was made in Hong Kong probably means they don't have access to the same FX departments as Hollywood.

Aside from the poor special effects, the film also seems to have lost something in its American translation. Some changes, presumably made for American audiences, don't work or become confusing. For instance, young John is shown performing a piano recital in New York City, but the remainder story is entirely set in Hong Kong. Why did they set it in New York? Also, there is a car race that supposedly takes place off-camera, and I wonder if it wasn't cut from the final print of the movie.

To the serious Jackie Chan enthusiast, I give Twin Dragons a hesitant recommendation. It's not his best work, but there are still two good fights worth seeing. I think that when seen compared to his other movies, it shows the progress he has made in recent years. Sadly, there are no out-takes at the end, which has become a trademark of Jackie's recent movies.

MY RATING: 3 out of 10.

RATED:
RUN TIME: 100 min.

Double the Punch? Latest Chan Release Doesn't Hit Very Hard

Double the Punch?
Latest Chan Release Doesn't Hit Very Hard