Gen-X Cops

Year:1999
Director:Benny Chan Muk-Sing
Cast:Nicholas Tse Ting-Fung, Stephen Fung Tak-Lun, Sam Lee Chan-Sam, Grace Yip Pui-Man, Daniel Wu, Toru Nakamura, Francis Ng Chun-Yu, Eric Tsang Chi-Wai, Jaymee Ong, Terence Yin, Moses Chan Ho, Lai Yiu-Cheung, Gordon Lam Ka-Tung, Bradley James Allan, Ken Lo Wai-Kwong , Jackie Chan
Description:
Aping big-budget western filmmaking seems to be HK抯
new pastime. The trend was pioneered two years ago with
the excitingly bland Downtown Torpedoes, and
now we抳e got Gen-X Cops. Simply put, it抯 Mod
Squad in HK.
Rebellious police cadets Jack
, Match , and Alien are recruited by wacky cop Eric Tsang to go undercover
as common thugs. Aiding them is Y2K , a teenybopper
hacker who抯 their eyes and ears. Hopefully, these brash
kids will be able to take down vicious punk Daniel , who抯 connected to evil arms dealer Akatora . It seems there抯 some missing rocket fuel
or some other plot device that allows our heroes an
arena in which to strut their stuff.
These three cops are all attitude
and no planning; it抯 a good thing they抮e tough as
all hell. With a minimal amount of police work and a
maximum amount of fisticuffs, our three intrepid heroes
rout the bad guys in a formulaic blend of genre clich閟.
For example, there are bastard cops led by Moses Chan
who despise the Gen-X Cops, and Daniel抯 new girlfriend
Haze happens to be a former flame of Match抯.
Plus our three heroes find time out to soul search about
their newfound jobs.
Few
surprises populate this calculated, commercial piece
of fluff. Thankfully, Benny Chan happens to be the director. Probably
HK抯 most competent commercial director, Chan gives
us well-executed action sequences and good stunt work,
as well as surprisingly good performances from his pop
star cast. Nicholas Tse carries himself well as Jack,
even when he抯 speaking English. Able support is provided
by Francis Ng, who plays local crime boss Lok with his
usual scene-stealing flamboyance. Despite its cheesy
trappings, Gen-X Cops shows a lot of panache.
Sure it抯 all in the name of Hollywood wannabe status,
but it抯 passable entertainment.