Anthony's Film Review - Twin Dragons (1992)

Twice the Jackie Chan doesn't double the laughs, but there's still enough of them...

Twin Dragons is a Jackie Chan martial arts action comedy that plays on an old story concept: twins separated at birth. In a somewhat cheesy, quickly executed introduction, two twins are born in the same hospital, but amidst some chaotic action involving a dangerous criminal, the twins are taken away from each other. One grows up to be a well-mannered, educated musician. The other ends up being more childish but street-wise.

Jackie Chan's performance in playing both characters is decent. As the film progresses, you can see both sides of the actor. He can fight fiercely AND act as a regular guy, all while making us giggle in the process. The moments after they accidentally switch places are funny, as is the moment when they finally see each other for the first time. One of the best scenes in the movie occurs when the musician is stuck in a dangerous car chase while the other guy has to conduct an orchestra. Both characters look goofy being out of place, and it's especially funny when the orchestral music is timed well with the car chase.

The action is what you expect in a Jackie Chan movie. Besides the car chase, there's also the climax at an automobile plant. There's a stunt that involves Jackie Chan backflipping to avoid an oncoming car, and it's pretty much the only stunt there is. But let's not forget that there's comedy in the action. One example of this occurs when, due to some kind of telekinetic connection, the fighting twin can force the other twin to do some fighting moves, which can actually come in handy.

So what about jokes outside of fight scenes? There are some of those as well. When one twin gets mistaken for the other, you can expect a mild laugh or two. Later on, when people see the twins together, some of them faint spontaneously. There's really no surprise in this kind of joke, especially as it's done perhaps one too many times in the movie. At least effort was put into the humor.

Overall, with action and humor that essentially meet minimum expectations for an average movie, Twin Dragons is just that. An average movie. It's one of those flicks where the filmmakers seemed to have rushed with getting the film done. Maybe they had a limited budget and could afford only so many takes per scene. It could have been worse, though. They could have made Twin Dragons a sub-par movie, but luckily for the audience, they didn't.

Anthony's Rating:

For more information about Twin Dragons, visit the Internet Movie Database.