Gen-X Cops: Media Asia Film Distribution Rating: USA: R
I really wanted to like Gen-X Cops—I really did. For months now, I’ve been hearing nothing but rave reviews for the Jackie Chan produced, Benny Chan directed Hong Kong cop flick—raves that made me intensely interested in checking it out in the hopes that it would take its place next to films like Beast Cops and The Mission…films that demonstrated that the Hong Kong film scene is alive and well even after the 1997 handover to mainland China. Perhaps if I were about 10 years younger, or if I hadn’t seen so many absolutely brilliant Hong Kong films, then maybe I might have liked this movie more—I mean, it’s not awful…it’s just not as great as many reviewers would have you believe.
GXC doesn’t break any new ground in the plot department, but what is there is almost comforting in its traditional-ness. Inspector Chan (Eric Tsang: Hitman) is an outcast on the Hong Kong police force. He’s got some kind of mental condition that causes his face to contort with these weird tics whenever he gets overly excited, and his superiors (including Inspector To, played by the sauve Chan Ho) think he’s completely incompetent. When a prominent gangster, Dinosaur, is murdered as part of a hostile business takeover by the arms smuggler Akatora (Toru Nakamora), Chan believes that by following the slain criminal’s brother, Daniel (Daniel Wu), that the cops can find and stop the weapons dealer.
So, Chan recruits three twenty-something wannabe cops who’ve recently been kicked out of the academy: Jack (Nicholas Tse: A Man Called Hero), Match (Stephen Fung: Cheap Killers), and Alien (Sam Lee: Beast Cops). These three daredevil cops work with Chan and computer expert Y2K (Grace Yip: A Man Called Hero) in the hopes of stopping Akatora—who’s stolen some very potent explosive fuel.
Of course, a high-octane plot like this requires numerous high concept action sequences throughout, and this is the one area where GXC really shines. Some of the action setpieces here are amazing—including one character’s escape from a flame-filled pool, a group parachute jump off the top of a 750 foot tall building, and a final battle royale in the parking garage of a famous Hong Kong landmark. Yes, director Benny Chan (Who Am I?) never allows the pace to flag here—which is good, since it does help to cover up some of the film’s other shortcomings.
And the biggest of those shortcomings is the cast. Chan has decided to go with fresh young newcomers for this film, and while the idea is an admirable one, it doesn’t totally work. No one here is awful, but they’re not all that awe-inspiring, either. While watching the film, one essentially gets the idea that Fung, Tse, and Lee were chosen more for their gen-x sex appeal than any real acting ability. Now, to be fair, these are all fairly inexperienced actors—and none of them are helped out by a script that allows the three leads to be essentially interchangeable and one-dimensional, but the performances themselves are all relatively flat (surprising since Lee was quite good in his supporting role in Beast Cops). However, all three shine during the film’s elaborate action sequences, and I suppose that’s as important as anything.
In a way, it’s almost as if Hong Kong filmmakers have decided to manufacture the next wave of action stars in much the same way that the American music industry is obsessed with creating boy bands—and I don’t think that I need to point out just how alarming a notion that is…
Yet, while the quality of the lead performances vacillates, there’s no such problem with Toru Nakamora. Nakamora really shines as Akatora, exuding a smoldering sense of menace in each of his scenes. It’s clearly the best performance in the film, and I expect that we’ll all be seeing more of this young actor in the years to come.
Finally, Jackie Chan fans will be pleased to know that their hero does manage to get in a brief cameo near the end of the film.
Benny Chan does a decent job with the direction here—managing to make what might be the biggest Hong Kong film to date in terms of Hollywood-style innovation. Chan pulls off some fancy special FX sequences (including one using a miniature model for a major explosion), skydiving action, and more.
Chan also manages to give the film a distinctively western look—mainly because it’s filled with hyper-edits, a constantly roving camera, and a pounding rock score. Normally, I’m not a huge fan of MTV-style edits in films, but when the film is called Gen-X Cops, you sort of know what you’re in for when you pop it into the DVD player. To be honest, the moving camera and quick edits seem to actually work to the film’s advantage—they fit with the philosophy espoused by the main characters and they keep the pace of the film from flagging. All in all, it’s solid work from Chan.
I viewed GXC on DVD, and the disc itself is quite impressive. The picture is fantastic, with a lot of sharp, vibrant colors, good sound, and some extras to boot. The film comes with the option watching it in dubbed English, or Cantonese with subtitles. It also features a cool thirty-minute documentary on the making of the film, deleted scenes, and cast filmography…which makes it a pretty good deal if you’re a serious fan of the film.
Ultimately, Gen-X Cops is a decent film that manages to entertain for most of its nearly two hour running time. It drops the ball on several occasions, and the performances aren’t always as good as they could be, but the film has a light, irreverent tone that manages to make some of the flaws almost forgivable. Only time will tell if Fung, Tse, and Lee have what it takes to become legitimate Hong Kong film stars—but at least they’re still working…Gen-X Cops 2 is slated for a 2001 release.
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