TWIN DRAGONS

Did you know that one of the crew members associated with this flick is actually called, 'Wing Wang Wong'? Yeah. I'm not kidding you, pal. If your lucky, you might be able to catch a glimpse of him when you watch this 100 minute movie made in 1992. It was Co-Directed by Ringo Lam, and Tsui Hark, and Starred: Jackie Chan, Maggie Cheung, with Teddy Robin Kwan.


Twin Dragons


THE STORY:
Thirty years ago -- give or take a couple of months -- a set of identical twins were separated at birth when an escaped convict -- or 'crook' to you and me --  accidentally ran into their mothers hospital room, in a vein attempt to get away from the cops.

Of course, this life changing event thrust these two children in completely different directions. Whilst one of them was nurtured in a privileged society, and eventually became the world famous orchestra conductor, John Ma (Jackie Chan). The other one was thrown into a world full of kung-fu and fast cars, and eventually turned out to be me. Boomerer (also Jackie Chan).

OK. I have to admit. At the time I knew nothing about any of this because had I other things on my mind. Like messing about with pal Tyson (Teddy Robin Kwan) for instance. Or trying not to get my head kicked in by a nefarious crime syndicate, helmed by Boss Wing (Alfred Cheung).

Hey! Don't worry yourself, folks. Even though Wing's men continuously attack me, day in, day out, I still manage to fall in love with a great girl called Barbara (Maggie Cheung), whilst my missing brother ends up with a bit of skirt called Tammy (Nina Li Chi).

Then again, that's most probably why what next transpires all gets a bit confusing when two long-lost siblings go to the bathroom together. As dueling kinfolk butt heads - prospective lovers swap beds - Boss Wing causes a right stir - and at the end of the day, a family wedding becomes a hazardous yet familial blur.

THE REVIEW:

On a conceptual level I'd say 'Twin Dragons' is one of those movies where the good was good and the bad was bad. Now with all due respect to everyone involved, the majority my positive praise is directed towards Jackie and his team for pulling off some really spectacular stunts. Plus for its time I must mention that I did find the basic concept behind this movie very daring too.

However, it is precisely due to its daring nature that this kung-fu comedy falls flat on it's ass. Well, from my perspective, of course, some of the special effects deployed throughout this flick appeared rather wooden and unnatural in execution. And in turn, this 'fake quality' actually distracted me from enjoying what was happening on screen with the twin Jackie's plus those around them.

Also, to some extent there was a rather 'bumpy predictability' to the overall narrative structure. It was as though the makers of this movie sat down and said amongst themselves, 'OK lads, we need a bit of drama, a bit of comedy, and a bit of action in this production. But never should any of these three elements combine at the very same time'. And to me -- personally -- this approach made it feel hollow somehow. Childish even. Plus it did have that very irritating way of 'delaying the inevitable', especially when the twins kept on missing each other, again, and again, and again, until... well... I'm sure you know where I'm going with this?

Yet apart from these noted flaws, generally speaking I rather enjoyed watching quite a bit of this flick. The standouts for me was Jackie himself, who managed to play two very different roles without making them feel like the very same person. On the one hand the Boomer character was the consistently growling brute, whilst on the other hand the John character was the suave sophisticated gentleman type. And in addition to this, the majority of the action sequences were fairly up to Jackie's usual high standards, despite being slightly protracted and staggered by the films end.

Anyway. By now I'm sure you know what I felt about this film. It had good bits in it. It had bad bits in it. And it was complemented by the following filmic-facts. (1) 'Golden Harvest' first screened this production in Hong Kong on the 15th of January, 1992, and all of its profits went to the 'Hong Kong Directors Guild'. (2) Throughout it's existence this project has been given the alternate titles, 'Brother vs. Brother', 'Double Dragon', 'Duel of Dragons', and 'When Dragons Collide'. (3) One of the taglines used to promote this picture, was, 'Twins. One's a martial arts master. The other's a maestro. Now, they're about to show the world that two Chans are better than one'. (4) According to Ringo Lam, who was one of the two co-director's that worked on this movie, while he was in charge of choreographing most of the action scenes, Tsui Hark was in charge of all the 'other stuff'. (5) Unfortunately the Maggie Cheung 'singing scene' was cut out from the American version of this adventure due to its length. (6) Not only did Teddy Robin Kwan star in this film and help co-write it, but he also had his own pop-group in the sixties called, 'Teddy Robin and the Playboys'. (7) Jackie Chan once stated in the press that he was so unhappy with the special effects seen in this production, that in the future he would only make this type of movie in America. (8) If you look very closely I'm sure you will notice quite a lot of the following cameo appearances made in this movie. For example: 'Hand of Death' director, John Woo, played the priest at the wedding. 'Once Upon A Time In China' director, Tsui Hark, played one of the men gambling with cards. 'Drunken Master' director, Ng See-yuen, played the car mechanic. And Jackie's co-star in 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Lucky Star', Eric Tsang, played the man on the telephone.

Overall I'd say 'Twin Dragons' is a must see film for any Jackie Chan fan. In many ways it's somewhat reminiscent of his Australian based works, plus it had a splattering of his eighties hi-jinks thrown in for good measure. Don't you agreed, Jackie old pal?

Ha! What a guy.

THE RATING: B