Watching Dragon, Hidden Growler - Film Reviews

INDEX

<The Promise (Wu Ji) | Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon >

All films are stories. Told by writers, directors and many other creative people. Whether the movies are British, Hollywood, Bollywood or from wherever in the world. I find many Chinese and East Asian films very innovative and highly entertaining. Here are a few I'd like to share.

Rawle Austin presents...

The Twins Effect - A Review

I'd heard about the Twins Effect and in fact had seen a bit of its sequel in China in 2004 but that version was in Mandarin Chinese with no subtitles. At the time my language skills weren't that good so I didnt totally get the story but loved the visuals. It has the reputation of being one of the quality Hong Kong films so I had to see it. It also ticked my persoonal boxes of supernatural fantasy and wire-fu martial arts.

The Twins Effect has the feel of Buffy the Vampire Slayer with a hard hint of Blade. It's a horror comedy, a spectacular action piece and most of all, its fun. An interesting mix of serious supernatural drama and light romantic comedy. It has a surprising amount of A-List talent attached to it both in front and behind the camera. It stars the Twins, Gillian Cheng and Charlene Choi, two Hong Kong pop stars and features cameo appearances from Hong Kong movie legends Jackie Chan and Karen Mok.

Directed by Dante Lam and co-directed by Donnie Yen, the Twins Effect is set in modern day Hong Kong. Vampires roam the land and their menace is felt immediately. Plenty of great wire-fu and one to one battles aided by fight director Donnie Yen, one of the best martial artists out there. I love the vampire hunters weapons. They're swords which can shoot out harpoon style grappling hooks attached to ropes at high speed. There is a neat use of CGI special effects throughout the film but it is toned down in favour of more traditional methods which enhance the feel of the Twins Effect.

The opening sequence of the film introduces us to vampire hunters chasing their prey. It is an impressive display and rivals Blade in its quality and atmosphere. I found the fight scenes even more spectacular, very original and entertaining. They hunt in pairs and Rosie Ho plays the partner to Ekin Cheng's hunter.

Edison Chen stars as a Vampire Prince who is being hunted by some European vampires. They have already slain his siblings and are gathering their blood to gain enormous power. He makes the role his own as a playboy who has everything he wants at his beck and call. I love his use of a state of the art coffin. Gillian Chung plays Gypsy. She's a big fan of the main vampire hunter played by Ekin Cheng and develops a crush on him. She becomes his new partner. Charlene Choi plays Helen. She's the sister of the vampire hunter and unknowingly falls in love with a vampire herself. This sets the stage for a meeting between the two.

Click here to check out The Twins Effect [DVD]  

The romantic comedy element plays a big part in the movie and serves to balance its darker side. The relationships between the characters are very charming and cute. You warm to them immediately. The Twins are all singing, all dancing popstars in Hong Kong and this was their first action movie. Guided by martial arts supremo Donnie Yen, they hit the ground running thanks to their hard work and effort in training.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that Jackie Chan sang the movie theme tune with the Twins as back up. It just helped to make the Twins Effect a great all round feel good movie. I enjoyed this film and give it a hearty seven out to ten. Told in Cantonese with English subtitles. It's rated 12 and has a running time of 1 hour 22 minutes. Go see!

< The Promise (Wu Ji) | Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon >

Click here to learn more about the latest Chinese movies!

Click here to check out Terracotta Distribution for the best films from the Far East!

Click here to go to DianYing for an extensive database of Chinese films!

[Back to Top]

[GrowlersWorld Business]

[GrowlersWorld Top 20 Charts: Site Statistics]

[Privacy Policy, Disclaimers, Small Print and Legal Stuff]

[Contact]

[Home Page]