Movie Review: Twin Dragons (1992) directed by Ringo Lam
Boomer (Jackie Chan) was raised by a single mom who had a bit of a drinking problem but tried hard to give him a good upbringing in the low-income areas of Hong Kong. She never talked about his father. Now he’s an auto mechanic and street brawler, with a sideline in street racing. His buddy Tyson (Teddy Robin Kwan, “Tarzan” in the Chinese) has developed a crush on lounge singer Barbara (Maggie Cheung) and asks Boomer along to help him woo her. This is because a mob boss also has his eye on the entertainer. If only Boomer could figure out why his fingers keep twitching.
What Boomer doesn’t know that he’s one of a pair of identical twins. He was abducted from the hospital as a human shield by a fleeing criminal, only to be lost by the criminal before he was rearrested. Boomer’s brother, John Ma (Jackie Chan), has grown up to become a successful pianist and classical music conductor. John’s in Hong Kong for the first time in 26 years to lead a concert. He’s greeted by a friend of his wealthy parents, who wants to hook up his daughter Tammy (Nina Li Chi as “Tong Sum”) with the Ma family for economic reasons. Tammy already has a boyfriend, the roughneck Rocky (Jamie Luk Kim-Ming) who is insanely jealous.
Boomer and Tyson manage to extract Barbara from the mob-controlled nightclub, but manage to make enemies of the underworld gang. John is pursued by the wrathful Rocky, who completely misconstrues the situation between John and Tammy. A series of near-misses happens, and the brothers are mistaken for each other, interacting with each other’s supporting cast in utter confusion.
Eventually the brothers meet and discover the resemblance, but that doesn’t solve any of their problems. Boomer must lead a concert, and John has to drive the getaway car for the mobsters’ imprisoned boss. It all ends in a big brawl at the Mitsubishi testing facility.
Good: Jackie Chan shows off his gift for physical comedy and funny martial arts. The brothers discover that they can affect each other’s movements, which allows for some hilarious moments, especially when a mobster figures out only one of them can actually fight, but that’s not completely true. Most of the jokes land, and it’s fun figuring out how the filmmakers did certain shots.
While the female characters have less to do, they do get in some comedy moments of their own. Also, the useless “damsel in distress” role gets taken by Tyson, who really strains his friendship with Boomer (and doesn’t end up with the girl or the money–Barbara makes her lack of interest in him clear early on.)
Less good: Some of the lechery jokes fall flat, the twin mixup has some creepy moments, and why is Boomer friends with Tyson again?
Content note: Martial arts violence, car crashes, what is essentially rape by deception. (Parts of the movie were cut for American release so we don’t see if this is ever admitted.)
Overall: A perfectly good Jackie Chan movie that hits on most cylinders. Best not to think too carefully about that sex scene though.
