A fun Jackie Chan movie for the fans, not quite as good as his best work but certainly superior to most as well as most of his recent output. This is fairly typical of the kind of movies he made during the early half of the '90s : lots and lots of cheesy, Chinese-style humour which is probably off-putting to Western audiences, a few cool fight sequences interspersed, and a typically inane and nonsensical plot. To make matters worse, the print released on DVD in the UK is the Dimension films American version which stupidly dubs the actors, changes the soundtrack, and cuts eleven minutes out of the movie! This is basically the "twins" movie for Chan, just like Van Damme, Li, and Schwarzenegger have made their own twin movies. The special effects range from split screen to back/forward projection, but there are also some decent (if a little wobbly) digital insertions which make up in ambition what they lack in technical perfection.
The plot is straightforward, light-hearted fare: there are two Chans who keep getting mistaken for each other. Maggie Cheung and Nina Li Chi are the lovers who keep getting confused, although Cheung is underused and Li Chi seems to be there just to take her clothes off a lot. Chan is as good as ever, mugging his way through joke after joke, although it's a shame only one of the brothers can fight. The action is more limited here but what we do get is great: a running series of kung fu battles, gun showdowns, and a fantastic bus chase with some superb stunts. Most of the physical stuff is saved for the finale in the car warehouse, which doesn't disappoint. Although most of the comedy is silly, Jackie remains an endearing screen presence and this is still amusing, old-fashioned fun, innocent and designed to please the audience at all points. As such I recommend it.
NB. I've recently had the chance to watch the 'uncut' Cantonese version and it's a much superior film; the undubbed jokes are funnier and less stupid and there's no denying the power of the constant energy and motion.
The plot is straightforward, light-hearted fare: there are two Chans who keep getting mistaken for each other. Maggie Cheung and Nina Li Chi are the lovers who keep getting confused, although Cheung is underused and Li Chi seems to be there just to take her clothes off a lot. Chan is as good as ever, mugging his way through joke after joke, although it's a shame only one of the brothers can fight. The action is more limited here but what we do get is great: a running series of kung fu battles, gun showdowns, and a fantastic bus chase with some superb stunts. Most of the physical stuff is saved for the finale in the car warehouse, which doesn't disappoint. Although most of the comedy is silly, Jackie remains an endearing screen presence and this is still amusing, old-fashioned fun, innocent and designed to please the audience at all points. As such I recommend it.
NB. I've recently had the chance to watch the 'uncut' Cantonese version and it's a much superior film; the undubbed jokes are funnier and less stupid and there's no denying the power of the constant energy and motion.