The first GEN-X COPS was one in a new wave of youth-themed films from Hong Kong, in which the likes of Nicholas Tse, Stephen Fung and Daniel Wu broke into cinemas and offered fresh, ultra-frenetic produce in the crime thriller genre, which was rapidly running out of steam with the likes of Jackie Chan and John Woo concentrating on their US fare and new ideas feeling few and far between. It was a successful film that got by on its youthful excesses and energy alone, but this follow-up is something else entirely.
Only Stephen Fung and Sam Lee return from the first movie, but this time around they're joined by another pretty-boy, Edison Chen, and a plot that seems to be a mash up of ROBOCOP and a dozen other robot-themed movies. In a nutshell, a young computer hacker manages to win control of a police robot that's been designed to subdue criminal elements with maximum firepower; it's up to the young heroes to put a stop to his plans.
GEN-X COPS II: METAL MAYHEM is a cheesy film, to be sure, and also very funny with it. So many scenes are played for laughs (particularly anything including Sam Lee's character) that at times I suspected that Benny Chan was making an out-and-out comedy. Everything involving the robots is particularly entertaining, with wild, anything-goes effects work and a real zeal when it comes to destroying the scenery. The plot is slapdash and all over the place, but the action is ladled into the mix thick and fast so that it all becomes very effortless (and entertaining).
Of the cast, the central duo of Chen and Fung are merely required to look cool and kick ass, which they do at frequent intervals. Maggie Q appears in a minor, next-to-nothing role before she got famous, and American comedian Paul Rudd appears as a typically wooden westerner. Best of the bunch is Lee, whose humour helps to make this movie a great deal of fun.
Only Stephen Fung and Sam Lee return from the first movie, but this time around they're joined by another pretty-boy, Edison Chen, and a plot that seems to be a mash up of ROBOCOP and a dozen other robot-themed movies. In a nutshell, a young computer hacker manages to win control of a police robot that's been designed to subdue criminal elements with maximum firepower; it's up to the young heroes to put a stop to his plans.
GEN-X COPS II: METAL MAYHEM is a cheesy film, to be sure, and also very funny with it. So many scenes are played for laughs (particularly anything including Sam Lee's character) that at times I suspected that Benny Chan was making an out-and-out comedy. Everything involving the robots is particularly entertaining, with wild, anything-goes effects work and a real zeal when it comes to destroying the scenery. The plot is slapdash and all over the place, but the action is ladled into the mix thick and fast so that it all becomes very effortless (and entertaining).
Of the cast, the central duo of Chen and Fung are merely required to look cool and kick ass, which they do at frequent intervals. Maggie Q appears in a minor, next-to-nothing role before she got famous, and American comedian Paul Rudd appears as a typically wooden westerner. Best of the bunch is Lee, whose humour helps to make this movie a great deal of fun.