The Gene Generation

I have a mixed feeling about this film.

In one way, it's an interesting story, out of the cyberpunk tradition of Philip K. Dick and others. The movie has a definite "Blade Runner" feel to it, provided by copious amounts of CGI.

The weakest element of this movie really is Bai Ling herself. Oh, she easy on the eyes, especially when she did nude scenes. But her thick accent is distracting, and at times she seems to be overacting. Playing against Alec Newman, who is understated in his performance, they are just not a well-matched pair.

The saddest element here is Faye Dunaway. She won a freakin' Oscar, for crying out loud! She's in the top class of her profession. Her performance here is a couple of voiceovers and one short scene, just enough to let us know how far she's fallen since her glory days in the 1970's.

Not a bad film to watch, but not anything anyone will remember...

A cheap cyberpunk thriller with very little to recommend it, THE GENE GENERATION is for all intents and purposes an amateur film. It features the ever-glamorous Bai Ling (DUMPLINGS) as a female assassin/fighter whose appearance and style is clearly indebted to characters like Milla Jovovich in the RESIDENT EVIL series.

Ling goes around dispatching various goons who threaten the wellbeing of her geeky brother. There's not much more plot to it than that, although the inclusion of some goofy CGI tentacle effects was a poor choice on the part of the filmmakers because they're lamentable. As you can guess, I wasn't a huge fan of THE GENE GENERATION, which is so poorly achieved as to be difficult to watch.

The whole film is far too dark which renders any action sequences rather pointless as you can't see what's meant to be going on. Ling's presence in the film is merely an excuse for her to fit into as many form-fitting and revealing costumes as is humanly possible. As for the random Faye Dunaway cameo, your guess is as good as mine...

Generally speaking, films which are set in the future really have to be "futuristic" in some way, shape or form. "The Gene Generation" is offered as being precisely that, but in its emotional impact and effect it is more like a bad dream from the 1930s, except in color. Lots of color.

The first thing the viewer encounters in this bizarre tale of family loyalty and love lost, is the grim cityscape of the anonymous city where everything happens. There's nothing shiny or bright about it.

Perhaps that was an effort by the author and director to 'locate' the viewer or audience in something at least a little bit familiar. Too bad that the cityscape has approximately as much charm as East Berlin in the mid-1950s !! There's trash everywhere, stuff blows around in circles in the ( seemingly ) never-ending wind, and it's always dark.

It rains. It doesn't rain. It rains. That part of the subtext of this otherwise very ambitious movie really is doubly maddening.

People live in high rise apartment buildings where there's running water and plenty of electricity, and gadgets, but nobody to clear the trash from the hallways. Huh ? The street scenes are the same, with futuristic clutter and debris all over the place, except on the sidewalks where the heroine -- Bai Ling, ravishing at forty-two -- is either walking or running.

Transportation in this urban desolation appears to consist only of elevators and floating-on-air 'flying Dutchmen' type sailing ships.

It all looks really, really strange and inevitably that becomes a nasty impediment to the story line itself, which is actually rather good.

The heroine is an anti-hero, a paid assassin with a brother who is a gambling junkie and a self-destructive idiot. Even his best friend and comrade eventually jettisons him, literally turning his back and then walking away. So, yes, there are touching moments in this otherwise ultra-violent and ultra-cynical story of ultra-modern revenge.

It is hard to recommend this movie for the plot, which is so cynical, and so dark and twisted; but, it is hard not to admire the effort in art and in cinema design which went into creating this futuristic urban hell on earth. That part, or parts, are quite amazing. Is this city located on some other planet, one which merely resembles our earth ?

We will most certainly never know the answer to that question.

Seven out of ten mostly for the delectable and dexterous Bai Ling and also for one truly nasty, skulking-around-places gangster-type villain.

The plot: A beautiful, female assassin fights against DNA hackers, who kill people by hacking into their body.

I think that Pearry Teo and I would get along really well. We seem to have the same taste in books, movies, and music. We both like dark, surreal fantasy/horror and gritty cyberpunk. His movies are filled with references to all the things that I like. The problem is that The Gene Generation is a rather shallow pastiche of gothy cyberpunk themes, with no real attempt at cohesion. While full of creative ideas, visually striking scenes, and attractive people in cool poses, it's also a jumbled mess. The pacing is just terrible, making the movie sometimes feel like it's three hours long.

I love everything about The Gene Generation, except the actual movie itself. This leaves me at a loss as to how to rate the movie. With some faster pacing, less exploitation, and tighter writing, this could have been amazing. But, then again, couldn't you say that about any movie? "If only it had been better, it would have been good!" I liked Necromentia better than The Gene Generation, so I think that he's improving. As far as a debut goes, I think this isn't bad... but it's still a bit of a rough watch. In the end, I recommend The Gene Generation only to genre fans, who are more likely to forgive its faults.

A device is invented know as the transcoder. It can reform human DNA in order to cure a disease or to kill them. But it has fatal results for everyone who uses if except it's creator. The story centers around Michelle an assassin who is trying to maintain a stable life in a corrupt world, and her gambling brother Jackie who is in denial of his problems and thinks they can be quickly fixed. Solemn (the villain)wants the Transcoder for himself to save his wife and will use deadly force if need be. Not knowing what it is Jackie steals the Transcoder from Christian. Yada yada yada... The Transcode changes hands a couple of times. Then the plot gets a little confusing, but stays entertaining.

this movie is gem among those low budget straight to video sci-fi flicks. The acting is good and so is the directing. Although the cgi, production and camera work is the same as other straight to video films, i.e. ten years behind. The look is awesome and heavily influenced by H.R. Giger art. Many think it's suppose to be set in the future, but it is actual set in an alternate reality since there are no advances in technology except the DNA hacking. Bai Ling's out fits are unconventional and look great. She really kicks ass in this movie.

The plot is a little confusing and has a few plot holes. This movie is not for everyone. If you like techno punk futuristic waste land sci-fi movies then you will like this.

I give this film a 7 out of 10. The movie was entertaining by need work on the plot.

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