Twin Dragons (1992)

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-

This is a great movie. I used to watch it as a kid when I went to my grandparents house (i'm not that old, heh). Just a fast paced movie with action all the way through. If you've seen any Jackie Chan movie, you'll know that he likes to be funny even when he's performing the stylized fight scenes. The great thing about Chan, is that a) All his own stunts, and b) no wire fighting. Yep, this is the real stuff.This movie was filmed when practical CG was still a little sketchy. In the scenes with both Boomer and Ma, You can tell that there's only real Jackie. If you look hard enough, you can see the little fuzzies around the CG Chan.But yeah, this is like all of Chan's more recent films: A few good guys against an evil coorporation/gang. Nothing new here. Jackie Chan's just a fun guy!

Designed as a cash cow to raise money for the HK Directors Guild's new apartment (hence the long list of all-star cameos), Twin Dragons isn't as dull and plodding as many would like to make out. Instead, we're treated to an endearing comic caper setting Jackie Chan as identical twins separated at birth (Van Damme's Double Impact would be made the same year) – one's raised on the HK streets to become a car mechanic and part-time illegal drag racer, the other is raised by biological parents in the US to become a world-renowned pianist and first-class fruit. Inevitably they collide, swap girlfriends and get into a sticky situation with some nasty criminals requesting a huge debt to pay. The result is a tad mediocre; silly and plodding it may be but dull it certainly isn't: the obligatory final beat-‘em-up pits double Jackie in a car warehouse fending off the baddies left right and centre, leaping in to and out of automobiles like the over-excited master he is – and really what more do we want?

Twins separated at birth meet again blah blahBut it's fun to watch and you get to see Jackie Chan's hilariously imaginative fight scenes!With a couple of babes thrown in and the inadvertent swapping of partners from one twin to the other, you can but tempt to imagine the glorious fun that results. This is Jackie at his silly best, a dignified world-famous conductor in one role whilst a bumbling bad-ass mechanic in the other, we get to see how versatile, if unique, an actor he is.For much of the film, both twins keep meddling in each other's lives causing havoc and confusion without knowing the cause until finally they come face to face...I saw it 10 years ago, several times because of its watchability. The soundtrack was excellent -- I still remember some of the tunes now. Feeling down, need a lift? This flick will rejuvenate your spirit for open-hearted fun living.9/10