Dak ging san yan lui

Almost ten years after the impressive debut of Benny Chan, comes this erratic action film that does have a few bright spots. Response piece to the Andy Lau breakthrouh feature, Tian Ruo You Qing/Moment of Romance(1990). A more light and humorous film than A Moment of Romance(1990) which was a tragedy. The humor in here ranges to very funny to very bad. One actor that stands out in his performance is singer and actor, Nicholas Tse.

Tejing Xinrenlei/Gen X Cops(1999) represents the new generation of performers in Hong Kong Cinema today. Eric Tsang has the thankless role of Inspector Chan. The action scenes are high tech but not as impressive as action during the hayday of Hong Kong cinema. Nicholas Tse is a cross between Andy Lau and Leslie Cheung in his acting style. Will be known in the future years more for his cast than for the movie itself.

After sitting through a year of American films trying to copy Hong Kong-style action, it was with great enthusiasm that I went to the Fanime 2K convention in San Jose and witnessed some of the greatest action films that were swept under the rug by the "big HK boom" of 1998-1999. Incuded among those was Gen-X Cops.

Gen-X Cops, while not the best in any specific genre, is a must-see if you're ready to jump into Hong Kong cinema, whether for the first time or after an absence. The action scenes are incredibly clean, having been shot real-for-real whenever possible. The plot has enough integrity to keep the film interesting without boring the audience to death. It's not perfect - the dubbing job isn't the best in the world (the film has a lot of English in it already, and the soundtrack can get jarring as it switches between dubbing and the original language. I watch the subtitled version whenever possible.) and most of the characters are under developed, but it is made up for with reams and reams of classic Hong Kong style. And style is what this film is all about.

Not to scare anyone off but this film is what America is scared to make because of the school shootings. Now everyone thinks they have to tone down on the violence and who is doing the violence. But this comes out of Hong Kong and it's a rated R teen action comedy. The story is very thin and I will try to do my best. A police station is bombed to cover up a large arms deal going down on the same night. And assigned on the case is a cop who has very large problems. He hires three teens to go undercover and infiltrate a mob and find out who bombed the police station and where the arms are going. This film is fitted for teens, lots of loud techno music, bright colors, teenage themes and enough action to make even John Woo happy. The action is fast and furious. There are lots of gunfights, explosions and fights. Produced by Jackie Chan himself this film knocks all those want to be teen action films (Mod Squad) out of the water. Anyone under 21 will enjoy this film a whole lot. And it also appeals to older action film fans. Gen-X Cops does what the titles say it's a teenage action thriller that is fully loaded.

One problem with recent HK action films is that it seems to be impossible to find male leads that aren't also teenybopper pop stars. Imagine a police thriller starring N-sync and you'll start to get the idea of how bad this film is. Basically the plot follows a cop who is the laughing stock of the force (a stupendously awful performance from Eric Tsang) who recruits three police academy dropouts (Nic Tse, Stephen Fung and Sam Lee) to infiltrate a group of hip ‘n' trendy young Triads. The big question must be how the trio ever got into the academy in the first place since they act like 11-year old schoolboys after their first beer. By the end of the movie they've got in with the Triads, had some fights and saved the day, but by that point nobody really cares. The only reason to watch right to the end is (a) a big explosion from the Independence Day effects team and (b) a Jackie Chan cameo.

Really this movie sums up the problem with many modern HK films. It's too American-style, and puts too much emphasis on pretty-boy hair-farmers with the acting talent and martial arts ability of Mariah Carey. The performances are pitiful. The action scenes are a joke. Only Francis Ng, a criminally underused Daniel Wu and Toru Nakamura as the Triad gang leaders come off with any dignity. And if you think this sounds bad, the sequel, Gen-Y Cops, is a million times worse.

3/10

sit back, cease all brain activity and just enjoy this amusing movie.. it won't win an oscar and the story makes little sense but it has some funny moments and the action is pretty cool.. i rate it 7/10