Although it features some of Hong Kong's top talent, such as directors Tsui Hark (Peking Opera Blues) and Ringo Lam (Full Contact) and actress Maggie Cheung (Irma Vep), the new rerelease of the 1992 Jackie Chan action comedy Twin Dragons is a mild disappointment. As the title suggests, Chan plays a pair of twins who after being separated at birth grow up to lead vastly different lives. Boomer becomes a tough mechanic with a serious debt to the mob. His twin, John, becomes an orchestra conductor.


Jackie Chan in Twin Dragons.
© 1999 Dimension Films, used by permission.

When John flies to Hong Kong for a concert, the two become mistaken for each other. Chan seems to love splitting his time between playing the sweet but ineffectual musician and the two-fisted hood. However, some of the double-exposure camera tricks are less than effective. Furthermore, the scenes with Chan at the piano are badly synched as is the new dub job. Still, the action is typically impressive. The two Jackies get to race boats, and the final punch-out in a car testing facility is a lot more creative and energetic than most American action sequences. (PG-13)

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