SYNOPSIS:
A cop goes back in time to the present to protect a scientist who holds the key to mankind’s future.
In the future, scientist DR. MASTERSON averts an energy crisis that threatens the existence of mankind by developing a solar substitute. In doing so he unleashes the wrath of a ruthless oil cartel who dispatch a team of half human, half machine hit men to assassinate him. Policeman ANDY (Andy Lau) is assigned to protect Dr. Masterson and repels the assassination attempt, but his wife MILLIE (BingBing Fan) and cyborg captain KALON’s (Louis Fan) younger brother are killed during the battle. Andy and Kalon both vow revenge.
Still determined to regain control of the world’s energy, the cartel send Kalon and his cyborgs back in time to the present to kill Dr. Masterson as a teenager. Now with the fate of the future in his hands, Andy must follow the assassins back in time to protect the future savior of planet earth. But the only way he stands a chance against the super powered cyborgs is to relinquish his humanity and become one of them.
MOVIE REVIEW:
If
Wong Jing had made "Future X-Cops" ten years, make
that twenty years ago, it would have net itself a much receptive
audience than now. But then again back in 1993, he did make
a sci-fi action comedy "Future Cops" based unofficially
on the immensely popular arcade game, Street Fighter which
was an instant success.
In a story set in the year 2080, Asia superstar Andy Lau stars
as Kidd, a cop who is assigned to protect a brilliant scientist
Dr Masterson from being assassinated by a rogue team of half-man,
half-cyborgs led by Kalon (Fan Siu-Wong). The attempt is thwarted
by Kidd and his team and in a comeback attempt, Kalon is sent
back to the past to kill the then-teenage Masterson. Kidd
who lost his wife in the attack earlier is determined to protect
Masterson but first he needs to be turn into a cyborg to be
able to defeat Kalon before he goes back as well.
Initially, it sounds like Wong is trying his hand at a solemn,
sci-fi epic with a touch of romance but the next hour turns
out to be a mixture of his usual nonsensical humour and haphazard
storytelling. There’s never any substantial explanation
behind the motives of the villains and secondly given the
advanced technology available, why did Kidd needs to be turn
into a cyborg? Can’t someone just supply him with a
power suit instead?
In just 15 minutes, Wong has conveniently setup a wham-bang
opening, introduced a paper-thin villain with a laughable
propaganda and forgets all about it until at some point, the
villains turned up apparently two years later than Kidd in
the past because of a wrong crevice hole, an intentional plotting
by Wong that genuinely cracks me up. At the same time, he
turns his attention to Kidd who opts for a Clark Kent’s
school of fashion and his doting daughter, Kiki (Xu Jiao)
with her fumbling classmates and yes throws in a romance angle
in the form of Barbie Hsu aka Big S. In addition, Taiwanese
compère Blackie Chen and Hong Kong veteran actor Law
Kar-Ying turns up to supply the comedy factor which only deserved
a chuckle at most.
Not to mention, most of the elements in "Future X-Cops"
is cobbled from movies such as "Superman", "Robocop"
and "Iron Man" which is what Wong is good at. Unfortunately,
the special effects here look so crappish and dodgy that it
makes a good laugh seeing the frequent cartoony background
flashing by and Kidd dressed in a supposedly armour suit.
Fans of Power Rangers and Ben 10 on the other hand will have
no problem getting accustomed to Kalon’s lobster claw
and Tang Yifei’s over-the-top performance as his evil
partner-in-crime.
Unlike "Future Cops" which never takes itself seriously
and entertains audience all in the name of good fun, "Future
X-Cops" stumbles on Wong’s own ambition and his
feeble script which read like one that is scribed over a heavy
night of booze and nicotine. This is neither an all-out wire-fu
HK action movie nor a good old cheeseball comedy that Wong
Jing is once known for.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
This Code 3 DVD comes with a trailer and a photo
gallery.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The
DVD comes with both Mandarin and Cantonese audio tracks and
the video transfer showcases the obvious shoddy CGI in all
its glory.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD
RATING:
Review by Linus Tee
Posted on 22 Jun 2010
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