Superb popcorn flick. This is a fantastic slice of non-stop, high octane, martial-arts, comedy horror thriller in the vein of Van Helsing and Underworld and even the Blade movies. It's a film that entertains and doesn't take itself too seriously. And if, like me, you thought Underworld and Van Helsing were great concepts ruined by poor execution then look no further for how this kind of film should be done.
Of course the plot doesn't bear scrutiny; something about a European vampire killing off vampire royalty to collect their blood in order to open an ancient and sacred book that grants a vampire daylight immortality (!) Nice. And continuity's dubious; at the start of the film our hero and his sidekick have trouble fighting off 10 vampires by the end vamps are being despatched in the dozens and our two heroines (KPop stars and both excellent to boot (Imagine Atomic Kitten doing Ultraviolet. It just wouldn't work!)) have strength and endurance beyond their perfectly formed but still small and dainty frames.
But none of this detracts from the overall experience. The fight scenes are fast and furious and, yes, over-the-top, with some superb CGI/wire work interplay. The comedy includes direct parodies of more famous films along with plenty of inter-character rivalries. The first meeting and subsequent fight between the two female leads is hilarious. The actors themselves also appear to be having a ball and their enthusiasm's infectious. So long as you've checked your brain out at the start you'll be hollering along in joy. The vampires are also wonderfully characterised. The Royal Prince living in his hi-tech coffin refusing to lower himself to actually sucking blood: He'll have his decanted by a servant, thank-you-very-much! And the way they move is captured perfectly; exactly how I envisioned Count Dracula in Stoker's novel: like a malevolent Spiderman!
It's also worth noting that Charlene Choi is some of the prettiest Asian eye candy around :o)
And it's got Jackie Chan in it.
So in conclusion, it's a must. I can't think of a better way to waste an hour and a half and I'm pretty sure this film will be taking several more hours off my life. Not that I mind in the slightest. It's so enjoyable I've even ordered its two sequels, sight unseen!
Pretty entertaining This movie is pretty entertaining. Although Jackie Chan is on the cover, his appearance in the movie is minimal. I got a good laugh from the goofieness of it all. I would recommend this movie if you like goofy movies.
comical action film. this move was so nice, a comedy and action film. jacky (kong sang) chan has a small part, put that does not really matter.
Vampire grappling The Twins and Ekin Cheng team up to take on vampires. Now first of all the story is the only thing I had a problem with in this movie. They don't explain a whole lot but they really don't need to. It is not a long movie and they mainly just focus on one plot point and the rest of the movie is fighting vampires. Ekin Cheng is a vampire hunter and when his partner dies he gets a new one. She is a little wild and does not like Ekin's sister. They have a fight on the rooftop with poles and while you can tell they don't know martial arts, this scene is a lot better than it should be with Donnie Yen's choreography. Ekin Chen though just surprises me more and more everytime I see him. He has a great one on one grappling type of fight and just looks outstanding in the opening scene. His acting is of course excellent as well. So Ekin's sister actually falls in love with a vamire who is being hunted by the like super vampire. I don't know what video game they took the story from but it makes for a great final fight. And I mean AWESOME!!!! The vampire grappling was great. NONE of the fights are going to blow your mind but there is just something about those twins getting down and dirty. Also look out for a great cameo from Jackie Chan and Karen Mok.
Classic This vampire action comedy is one of my favorites for the very fact that I was thoroughly entertained throughout the entire movie. First of all, the characters are memorable, contributing a myriad of classic scenes. Charlene and Gillian are naturally cute, charismatic, and humorous. This movie was my first exposure to them, and all I wanted to do was reach through my television screen and give them a REALLY BIG HUG. The remaining cast did well in their supporting roles, including Jackie Chan, Karen Mok, "The Duke", Josie Ho, Edison Chen, Anthony Wong, and the vampire bad guys (one of which looks eerily familiar to Will Ferrell). Even the abominably horrible Ekin Cheng was good in this one. Good characters are important, of course, because they avoid the feeling of boredom by keeping things interesting between action sequences.
And speaking of action, this film has plenty of it. More importantly, there is an emphasis of quality in the fight choreography. One aspect that helped in this regard is the featured weapon of the protagonists - a sword with a retractable spear-ended rope. This weapon, in and of itself, opened up a variety of moves that would have been otherwise impossible. Josie Ho and Gillian Chung, in particular, perform some wicked aerial maneuvers using these devices.
In addition, the swordplay is superb, and is highlighted by two great sword fights - one taking place during the opening train station sequence and the other occurring in the church finale. In fact, the blade-wielding maneuvers showcased in this film put some other highly overrated fan favorites to great shame, and I truly feel sorry for those who would cite the horribly choreographed garbage seen in Ashes of Time, Storm Riders, or A Man Called Hero with the well-planned, precisely executed sequences seen in The Twins Effect. It's not even close.
This film was so good that it actually set me up for being disappointed at other Chinese movies with the same actors and actresses. This especially applies to Ekin Cheng, whose other films almost always suck - and yes, this includes the obscenely overrated and exploitative wuxia crap mentioned in the previous paragraph. Even The Twins have never been able to match the value of this movie when both were lead actresses in a film, although they have managed to hit some good films when either one or the other takes the leading role (e.g., Beyond Our Ken, Good Times Bed Times, House of Fury) or when one or both are in supporting roles (e.g., Colour of the Truth, New Police Story, Just One Look). The Twins Effect 2 should have been a direct sequel, instead of a family fantasy. I am still yearning to see Charlene and Gillian team up and kick some butt in another movie, but the fact remains that The Twins Effect hits on all cylinders, optimizing their charisma while avoiding a descent into annoyance (as in Protégé de la Rose Noire).
All in all, this film has everything one needs to be entertained. And may I remind the reader that it is precisely this - ENTERTAINMENT - that judges the greatness of a movie, more so than artsy dramatic elements or meaningless awards from established academies of critics who usually have no idea what they are talking about.
In the end, the Twins Effect is a CLASSIC not to be missed.
Rating = 5/5 stars
P.S. - The Hollywood execs decided to slaughter this film when it was released in the U.S. by renaming it The Vampire Effect and cutting out 20 minutes of footage, which includes parts of the action scenes. However, the final fight of the U.S. version does have a better soundtrack than the original version. Therefore, I purchased both versions, which allows me to first watch the original until about the 1:20 mark, and then swap discs to watch the final fight on the U.S. version.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Tailipoe
Trevor
