Gen X Cops

The one line summary says it all. They are young. They are cool. They kick ass. They are pretty boys (cops) with big guns (no pun intended). Add an uberly uber sexy Toru Nakamura as the vengeful Yakuza boss, and what you'll get is a Gift from Heaven TM for all slash fangirls. Who cares about the plot? (Which actually is quite interesting). Ahem. I'll be serious now. When top secret bomb material is stolen by an aspiring and vengeful Yakuza boss (masterfully played by the wonderful Toru Nakamura), a detective considered by his colleagues to be a clown, decides to hunt down the villain. To infiltrate the criminal organisation, he finds a trio of kicked-from-the-academy former cadets and sends them under cover. The "icredible trio" unravels the mystery and at the and has a big KABOOM fight with Yakuza boss. Simple premise, isn't it? Anyway, if you don't want to be mentally challenged and are looking for good time (pretty boys), some mindless shooting and fighting, nice special effects, that's the movie for you. 7/10

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

...and here's why:

1) The plot is an overlong, unengaging mess

2) The action scenes are generic (mostly shootouts in which it's often hard to tell who's shooting at whom, and special effects-enhanced explosions).

3) The fight scenes are brief and overedited. There is one girl (Grace Yip) that appears to be a better fighter than the three male leads, and where is she during the climactic fight? Nowhere to be seen!

4) 15 years after the "Lucky Stars" series, Eric Tsang is still providing the same kind of lame-brained "comic relief". Isn't it time for this guy to give it a rest?

Two spectacular sky-diving sequences are all I'll remember from this one...and yes, it's easy to see why the very handsome Nicholas Tse has so many female fans.

*1/2 out of 4.

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.

This was one of the best HK films to come out in 1999. The three leads, Nicholas Tse, Stephen Fung, and Sam Lee gave their all as Jack, Match, and Alien. Explosive gunfights combined with martial arts combat were awesome!!! Daniel Wu was a bit wasted in my opinion. They should have had his fight in the film. Nevertheless, Jackie's cameo was a riot in the end. I never expected to see him in the film, but 2 members of his Sing Ga Ban (Bradley Allan, Ken Lo) made appearances. This is a must see for new and old fans of the action genre.