Jackie Chan has become famous the world over for his unique style of action-packed martial arts mayhem interlaced with a generous dose of comedy. He's sort of a Chinese Arnold Schwarzenegger, but a lot funnier, and he does his own stunts. Chan has become a virtual movie-making machine of late, cranking out one or two films a year. That's fine though, as long as he keeps making them, I'll keep watching them. In Twin Dragons, Chan fans get a double dose of the actor, and an entertaining hour and a half of action and laughs.
In Twin Dragons, Chan plays Boomer and John Mah, twin brothers separated at birth when a criminal being rushed to a hospital takes one baby hostage to effect his escape. The escape attempt is foiled with some Chan-esque stunts performed along the way, but baby Boomer ends up in the hands of an alcoholic woman who raises him as her son. He becomes an automobile mechanic/ tough guy who operates on the slightly shady side of the law.
John, by contrast, is schooled in classical piano by his real parents and grows up to be a world-renowned conductor/ pianist. Cultured and refined but no fighter, John is the antithesis of Boomer. Eventually, he meets up with John, and though struck by their identical likenesses, the two don't immediately realize they are brothers. They become involved together in a situation born of Boomer's less than reputable dealings, and this serves as the focal point of the film.
Certainly, the concept of an actor in multiple roles has been done before. It's not a new idea, but it is handled well in Twin Dragons. Chan does a good job of playing the two different characters, and a there are a lot of good laughs played off of it with the expected near-encounters between the two, cases of mistaken identity, and confused girlfriends. The two brothers share a symbiosis which provides for some interesting scenes as well.
The special effects, on the other hand, leave something to be desired when Boomer and John are in the same scene. There is a noticeable distortion surrounding one of the two that surprisingly wasn't addressed before the film was released. Still, this is a minor quibble, and I think most Chan fans will be happy with the movie overall. Two Chans for the price of one? Now that's a deal no Chan fan could possibly pass up.
It is a tradition in the Hong Kong film community for actors and directors to donate their time and the profits from a film in order to raise funds fo...More at Family Video
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