“Gen-X Cops” Chinese Theatrical Poster
Director: Benny Chan
Cast: Nicholas Tse, Stephen Fung, Sam Lee, Jaymee Ong, Grace Yip, Eric Tsang, Toru Nakamura, Francis Ng, Daniel Wu, Moses Chan, Bradley James Allan, Vicky Chen, Jeff Kam Chun Man, Wayne Lai
Running Time: 113 min.
By James H.
“Gen-X Cops” is, without a doubt, the most American looking Hong Kong film I have ever seen. Not that that is a bad thing, it just is a fact. It is directed by Benny Chan of “Who Am I?” fame, and has style to spare. The story concerns a trio of rag-tag police rejects that are fired and re-hired to infiltrate a gang of bad guys. There is a little more to the story, but it really isn’t very important. The script throws a twist or two here and there to keep thing interesting.
The highlight of the film is not the plentiful action sequences, but the acting of one Toru Nakamura. He plays the Yakuza villain Akatura. He is, hands down, the coolest villain I have ever seen. Always dressed in black and ready to kick some ass. Nakamura plays him with this calm and composed way. Never does he give way to anything else.
The action scenes are directed with style and grace. They can give any recent American action flick a run for its money. There’s not much more one can say, except that they are exceptional. The martial arts, although not enough for my liking, was done expertly as well.
“Gen-X Cops” suffers from a somewhat cliched script. The final five minutes is, unfortunately, horribly corny and contrived, but it does leave plenty of room for a sequel.
James H’s Rating: 8.5/10
By Tequila
Although it’s by no means an excellent film, Gen-X Cops is thoroughly entertaining. It is very funny at times (Y2K giving Alien a Japanese translation) and has one of the coolest villains for a while in Akatora/Tiger, the Yakuza boss permanently in black. Francis Ng is also in this which should be recommendation enough anyway.
For what it is, a piece of entertainment, there are no better films to watch. While the plot may seem corny and the acting in some cases may be a bit poor, this is the most fun “leave your brain at the door” movie I have ever seen. It’s hard to rate in that aspect as you may not like light-hearted, fun movies and may prefer to go for the Better Tomorrow style drama and story (like I usually do). You can do a lot worse than pick this up when you have the chance though.
Tequila’s Rating: 9/10 as a slice of action-entertainment, 6/10 if you prefer a story/acting over fun
