Gen-Y Cops (2000)

Director: Benny Chan

Producer: Thomas Chung, Willie Chan

Writer: Felix Chong, Chan Kiu Ying, Bey Logan

Cast: Edison Chen, Stephen Fung, Sam Lee, Richard Sun, Maggie Q, Rachel Ngan, Sophie Ngan, Christy Chung, Anthony Wong

Action Director: Nicky Li

Running Time: 105 min.

Plot: Military suppliers IMC have developed an automated soldier called RS1. But just as they're celebrating their success, RS1 turns its weapon systems on designer Dr Cameron. The doctor survives but is concerned about the safety of the robot at the upcoming Hi-Tech Military Exhibition in Hong Kong. RS1 has been hacked into by former employee Kurt, fired from the project for being unruly and now he wants the RS1 back. In Hong Kong, Alien, Match and Edison are assigned to handle security at the exhibition, which includes babysitting visiting FBI agents Curtis and Tucker. Kurt is also in town, who not only knows Edison, but also proves to be a dab hand at hypnosis...

BRMANUK'S REVIEW: Oh well, I guess for £2 you can't really complain...or can you? It's debatable I'm sure but no matter what you pay for this film nothing's going to change the fact that it has an awful script, horrible acting, annoying characters, poor CGI effects and the looks of a poor US cop show that would probably get shown on TV at 2.00 am.

Edison Chen plays Edison (original huh?), one of the 3 Gen Y Cops who meets an old friend (Kurt) who invented a killer robot that got stolen by some bearded fella. His friend gets pissed and hypnotises Edison to hack into the robot and make it kill it's new owners and run riot. Eventually Edison realises what he's done and is on the run from his two annoying cop buddies. Obviously everything works out in the end, blah blah blah.

The story sounded interesting to me, but believe me the film poor. It possibly could have been quite good but it isn't, it's just crap. Richard Sun who plays Kurt is annoying. His constant use of phrases such as "Bro!" and "wassup main man!" along with his sub par acting make him look a joke. Edison Chen who uses the same phrases but isn't as over the top as Sun, is equally annoying. Sam Lee (Alien) and Stephen Fung (Match) who reprise their roles from Gen X Cops (but have taken the backseat so Edison can talk out his ass) are 'quite' enjoyable and keep the viewer curious on what stupid things they might do next, but Alien's overacting and annoying facial expressions become a bore after about 2 minute's into his screen time. And don't even get me started on the token white FBI stiff, you know the type; the 'cool' lead characters (or maybe I should say 'playas', dawg) hate him, and he hate's them, as well as their country and their inferior technology which is in the stone age compared to American's standards, apparently (ironically a US company did the CGI for this film, and well it's ermm.......urgh). Oh yeah another thing, the CGI is appalling, the robots look like something out of a children's TV 'adventure' show and don't look very threatening at all, and the fight scenes seem to be played as jokes which might have worked if they were funny, but they're not.

I must admit though, despite my comments the film did hold my attention pretty much throughout, mainly because it was so poor it was intriguing to see if it would get any better or worse. However the last few scene's did pick up a little until the two robots confront each other and you get to see how REALLY BAD the effects are. There was the odd entertaining moment with the two idiot cops (Alien and Match) but the film was like MPM said "A fucking fashion show" and a poor one at that!

So was it worth £2? Yeah I guess so, but I'll be selling it back to Blockbusters tomorrow.

BRMANUK'S RATING: 4/10

TEQUILA'S REVIEW: Gen-Y Cops is great for the OPPOSITE of the reasons that the original was great for. While the first was a great action-entertainment flick, it's sequel is just as good as it's like those hilariously bad B-movies. It's painfully funny to hear Chinese cops and computer geeks to say "Whaz up ma dog?" or "You ma bro, man!". Edison Chen is from Canada so he has the accent, meaning that he sounds like an unconvincing fake Canadian ghetto boy. Richard Sun is just HILARIOUS as the twisted geek trying to steal a robot he designed, although I fail to see how he would have had the time to design one if he was as doped-up as he sounds.

While the acting is pathetic to the point of comedy, the intentionally funny moments are great and it's just as enjoyable as the first. I like the look of Maggie Q as much as I like that of Jaymee Ong too, so go out there and download the photos...er, I mean see this movie now, if you liked the first.

TEQUILA'S RATING: 9/10 as a fun film, 2/10 as a FILM.

MIGHTY PEKING MAN'S REVIEW: What a disappointment. "Gen-Y Cops" is a perfect example of "since it was so successful, let's do a sequel and let's do it fast!"....it's definitely the impression I got. What the hell was Benny Chan thinking when he directed this? The script, which was terribly written, is a cheap rip-off of "Robocop". Get this, the robot featured in this film, called the RS1, looks like a "Gundam" reject from Taiwan! It was supposed to be the main attraction of the film until we see how fake it looks. Seriously, it looks like an oversized model kit manufactured by a "Bandai" knock-off!

"The Most Pathetic Actor Award" goes to the film's bad guy - Richard Sun, who plays "Kurt", the computer nerd responsible for designing the deadly RS1. Every time the guy opened his mouth, I was like "Oh my gosh!". I am in total embarrassment for the poor guy's acting career, if any. Should I even mention newcomer Edison Chen? Okay. I will. He's not far behind Richard in the acting department, but at least he's got some potential to improve. Why they made him the lead instead of Stephen Fung? I have no idea. Even Sam Lee was totally ridiculous with his constant face-making and unfunny humour which got old quick. Speaking of Fung and Lee, who reprise their "Match" and "Alien" roles, they are left in the background, while most of the spotlight seems to shine on Edison Chen, who was so cool that he had to use his real name in the film. Please.

Maggie Q, Rachel Ngan, Sophie Ngan are just a few hot babes that were thrown in the film because...well, probably because they're hot babes. Maggie Q shouldn't quit her day job as a model - I ain't even going there. I was surprised to see Christy Chung, who happened to be one of the few I enjoyed watching in this film, mainly because she could "act". Other people in the film are not even worth mentioning. Not even that co-starring blonde guy with the low-budget hair style...whatever his name is. Who cares.

The only saving grace of this film are the worthwhile action scenes and hand-to-hand combat sequences, which are highly stylized and neat. Other than that, "Gen-Y Cops" relies heavily on the image of it's characters. It's a fucking fashion show if you ask me. Benny, grab Lau Ching-wan and make a real film!

MIGHTY PEKING MAN'S RATING: 4/10