Twin Dragons Reviews

Feeble comedy dominates this slapdash 1992 picture, only now being released in the US, about twin brothers separated at birth and then accidentally reunited. The year is 1965, and twin boys have been born in a Hong Kong hospital. But as their parents ooh and coo, a vicious criminal is brought in on a gurney. He tries to escape, and grabs one of the babies to use as a human shield. By the time the mayhem is over, the infant has been lost and the grieving parents leave for America with their remaining child. He grows up to be John Ma (Jackie Chan), a child prodigy at the piano and later a world renowned conductor. His brother, who was found by a good-hearted Hong Kong prostitute with a heart of gold, grows up to be Boomer (Chan again), a mechanic living on the fringes of criminal life. The twins share a psychic bond, but neither knows that he has a brother until Ma arrives in Hong Kong for a concert. Silly mayhem ensues: Ma is kidnapped by gangsters who want him to be the driver in the daring daylight rescue of their jailed boss, while Boomer finds himself conducting a symphony orchestra in what can only be called a uniquely acrobatic manner. And of course, there's girl trouble as well: Lounge singer Barbara (Maggie Cheung) falls for Ma, whom she thinks is Boomer, while flighty businessman's daughter Tammy (Nina Li Chi) winds up in the sack with Boomer, whom she believes to be her childhood playmate Ma. It's hard to imagine why it took two reputable directors to put together this dopey affair, which also suffers from some very dicey twinning effects when the brothers are in frame together. Only die-hard and undemanding Chan fans need apply.