R E V I E W :    Gen-Y Cops  

Reviewed 3/12/01 | Background | Movie Review | DVD Review | Recommendation

Background 

MegaStar / 2000 / 113 minutes
Directed by Benny Chan Muk Sing
Written by Felix Chong Man Keung, Chan Kiu Ying, Bey Logan

Gen-X Cops was a hit in 1999 so it was perhaps inevitable that a sequel would be made.

The film was released theatrically in Hong Kong in December 2000.

Movie: plot, performances, production, rating

Plot: A robot soldier, developed by Americans (and at least one Asian), is headed to Hong Kong for a weapons exhibition. The FBI (including arrogant Agent Curtis, calm Agent Tucker, and constantly un-business dress wearing Jane) is in charge of providing security. Inspector Chung of the Hong Kong Police Force assigns Edison, Match, and Alien as additional security. Oli, a computer expert and Match's current flame, is also a part of the HK security team. Edison sneaks off to meet Kurt, an old schoolmate visiting from the States. Somebody tries to steal the robot solider from the exhibition. Explosions, fighting, and general mayhem ensue.

Performances: I hesitate to spend much time reviewing the performances of actors who were chosen more for their looks than their thespian abilities. I will summarize by the following categories: embarrassing (Edison Chen Koon Hei as Edison, Richard Sun Kwok Ho as Kurt, Maggie Q as Jane), barely competent (Rachel Ngan as Oli, Christy Chung Lai-Tai as Inspector Chung), enjoyable though not overly impressive (Stephen Fung Tak-Lun as Match, Sam Lee Chan Sam as Alien, Paul Rudd as Agent Curtis, Mark Hicks as Agent Tucker). The film is enlivened due to small roles being played by Vincent Kok Tak-Chiu (as a Hong Kong robot inventor), Anthony Wong Chau-Sang and Eric Kot Man Fai (as robot inventors from the People's Republic of China), and Cheung Tat Ming (as, well, "Lobster Man").

Production: Benny Chan Muk Sing delivers a different tone in this sequel than in the first film. Whereas Gen-X Cops was desperate to display a hip and rebellious attitude (and perhaps establish street credibility for its intended youthful audience), Gen-Y Cops is more relaxed and playful. It doesn't take itself too seriously, and that's definitely an advantage for this type of genre flick. The pacing is brisk but it's still too long (cutting at least 10 minutes would have helped). The action is well staged (although some may object to the highly exaggerated fighting style that is employed). The script by Felix Chong Man Keung (Tokyo Raiders) and Chan Kiu Ying (who wrote a number of scripts in the '80's but little since) is routine but also jam-packed with wild implausibilities. It also completely ignores the fact that this is a sequel (no mention is made of events or several main characters from the first film). Bey Logan is again credited with the English dialogue. This time around his profanity uses only one or two "f-" words (a relief to me); instead, though, he (or the actors on the set) has added much pseudo-American rap slang ("Yo, dog!" and the like). Poon Yiu Ming's resume as a cinematographer is made up of films I haven't seen (Doug's Choice, Lantern, Mr. Mumble) and he hasn't had a credit since 1996, but here he provides a suitable look. Cheung Ka-Fai has edited a number of excellent films and here he helps keep the action moving. Peter Kam Pau-Tat leans heavily on synthesizers and percussion for an acceptable if not memorable musical score (he is popular as a composer for high-tech movies, having also scored films such as Downtown Torpedoes, Purple Storm, and Tokyo Raiders).

Rating: Category IIB. Many, many people are killed or shot; one or two scenes with explicit gunshot violence; punching and kicking; considerable profanity.

DVD: look, sound, subtitles, and features

Look: The disk is letterboxed at 2.35 to 1 and the presentation is excellent. Black levels are deep, colors are saturated and rendered accurately, and fleshtones look natural. The source print is very clean.

Sound: I listed to the Dolby Digital 5.1 Cantonese (most of the dialogue is spoken in English) audio track and it sounded excellent. The soundfield is deep and the surrounds are constantly engaged. The other audio track provided is DD 5.1 Mandarin.

Subtitles: The English removable subtitles are white and appear in the lower portion of the screen. The font used is the biggest and thickest I've seen; needless to say, they are easy to read with few, if any, spelling or grammatical errors. One distraction, though, comes from the fact that most of the dialogue is spoken in English. Because subtitles are provided for English dialogue, too (though I don't know why), I found myself reading the subtitles even when English was being spoken. The other subtitles provided are traditional and simplified Chinese.

Features: Nine chapters can be selected. The synopsis is the most detailed I've seen - it summarizes the first 60 minutes of the film (a bonus if you just want to save time)! The synopsis throws in details, however, that are not in the final cut (such as the supposed "unrequited love" that Agent Curtis harbors for Jane). Biographies are provided for Benny Chan, Edison Chen, Stephen Fung, Sam Lee, Richard Sun, Rachel Ngan, Maggie Q, Mark Hicks, and Paul Rudd. What's nice about the biographies is that information is first provided about the character the actor plays in the movie. What's different is that details are supplied about the specific commercials the actor has done (along with product names). A teaser (about 45 seconds) and two theatrical trailers are also included in the bonus materials.

Buy, rent, or pass?

Rent - with a large caveat. If you are allergic to dumb, big-budget, high-tech, special effects-driven movies, stay far away from this one. On the other hand, if you don't mind checking your brain at the door occasionally (like me), you might enjoy it more than you're willing to admit.

 

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