Gen-X Cops (1999)

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Good movie but grossly overrated

Good concept, poorly executed.

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Note: This review contains spoilers, so it's probably best to read this after you've seen the movie.I stumbled upon Gen-X Cops (1999) while I was watching television on satellite. I read the plot summary, and it sounded interesting. But, unfortunately, after I had finished watching the movie, I was left disappointed. This is a weak and overlong action flick, that is filled with clichés, and it's a movie that seems to be set on autopilot. The movie also seems to take its ridiculous plot seriously, as if we cared.The movie starts out well: The Hong Kong Police are looking for 10 pounds of nuclear bombs, which has been stolen by an Asian street gang led by Akatora (Tôru Nakamura). At the same time a deal is going down, the Hong Kong police station is bombed.Inspector Chan (Eric Tsang) is a timid cop who is assigned to hire three teenage recruits, Jack (Nicholas Tse), Match (Stephen Fung) and Alien (Sam Lee), to go undercover and find out who has bombed the police station. The trio agree to go undercover under one condition: Chan must go parachuting.Gen-X cops starts out well and interesting, but then the movie goes on autopilot- -it turns into a mindless action picture. Central villains are killed off for unexplained reasons, and then, another bad guy enters the picture.The film is also very weak on character development. Jack, Match, and Alien make an odd resemblance to the Ninja Turtles. They fight together, they make jokes together, and it's amazing the H.K. police managed to choose three recruits, who act like a bunch of kids. At the start of the film, we're meant to believe that the heroes hate the police, yet it is never explained why they've bothered to become recruits. But other than focusing on the three heroes, the film focuses on Inspector Chan, who trades insults with the Inspector To (Moses Chan), who believes he can do better than him.Chan is a likable character, but even likable characters can face unfortunate demises. It would have been best if Chan were still alive and be able to serve as the comic relief. But Gen-X Cops is so mean spirited, that one wonders why such a lovable character would be killed off in the first place.Another death scene doesn't make any sense. Consider the scene where the villain faces the three young heroes in a final showdown. I was expecting a big death sequence here and there, but wait- -the fight stops, and the villain allows the heroes to make it out of the building if they can, while the villain stays to die in an explosion.The action sequences are nothing special or exciting, but confusing. It's difficult at times to know who's doing what to whom, or even why. There's even a final action sequence where the trio unconvincingly try to outrun a nuclear explosion.Gen-X Cops has an interesting premise, but a very weak execution. We're forced to watch clichés, such as the bad guys realizing that the teens are actually "cops" and the inspector being pulled off the case, and going it alone. Jackie Chan, who produced the film, appears by the near end of the film and steals his scene. Gen-X Cops is such a retread that it's a movie where I realized that I should have fallen asleep through it.

Ok Let me start this. Im from the states but is currently living in Taiwan. I saw this movie last year and didnt care at all cuz...well I wasnt in to asian boys. But I rented this movie yesterday and (well livin in the ROC for 6 months)since now all the cute boys to my eyes are asian I decited I LOVE THIS MOVIE. STEPHEN FUNG, DANIEL WU, TERENCE YIN and NICHOLAS TSE, ARE SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOT (Not as cute as F4, Edison Chen, Lee Wei or Wang Lee Hom)but I definatey say EYE CANDY!!!!!!! As for the movie, the plot sux and so does the action....but all the hot guys make up for it!! As for Gen-y cops....THAT MOVIE REALY SUCKED!!! But the cute actors (Edison Chen, Stephen Fung and Richard Sun)definately make up for the shiz!!! Another good movie is the avenging fist starin stephen fung anf wang lee hom. And Bishonen staring stephen fung, daniel wu and terence yin.

...But who cares? The movie still rules! By the time I saw this, I was familiar with a lot of the cast due to movies like "A Man Called Hero" and "The Avenging Fist." Regardless, here you can really see what the up-and-coming generation of HK Cinema has to offer. The stylish directing, editing, and rockin' "Tekken-esque" soundtrack all contribute just fine.The main story is kind of along the lines of the Mod Squad... Get some underachieving, hip young people and recruit them on behalf of law enforcement. Then, have them use said hip-ness to infiltrate a crime family and bring them down from the inside. Typical, run of the mill stuff, but the delivery of it all keeps the viewing from getting dull. Gen-X Cops has what every good action movie needs - including the now standard "Nightclub Brawl" scene, which is prevalent in action movies.You will be entertained by this movie, without a doubt. In fact, I have to say that this movie has broken some boundries - including the saddest, most depressing parachute descent you'll ever see committed to film. Those of you who've seen it know what I'm talking about.Stop reading this, now. Go out and rent it or something. Hey, why not BUY it? Go on, I'll wait.

The actors were all new to me. I've not watched HK films in years before watching this one, and compared to the horrible movies i've seen before, the ones that left me wanting a refund for my time, this wasn't so bad. The faces were fresh and some of them were just eye candy, a definite incentive to see this film again and again. Of course, if you are one to watch for interesting plots, HK films aren't for you.