Dak ging san yan lui

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.

...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.

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

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.

Almost ten years after the impressive debut of Benny Chan, comes this erratic action film that does have a few bright spots. Response piece to the Andy Lau breakthrouh feature, Tian Ruo You Qing/Moment of Romance(1990). A more light and humorous film than A Moment of Romance(1990) which was a tragedy. The humor in here ranges to very funny to very bad. One actor that stands out in his performance is singer and actor, Nicholas Tse.

Tejing Xinrenlei/Gen X Cops(1999) represents the new generation of performers in Hong Kong Cinema today. Eric Tsang has the thankless role of Inspector Chan. The action scenes are high tech but not as impressive as action during the hayday of Hong Kong cinema. Nicholas Tse is a cross between Andy Lau and Leslie Cheung in his acting style. Will be known in the future years more for his cast than for the movie itself.