If you hate these Mod Squad/youth rebellion flicks then don't watch this movie but if you are in the mood for good mindless entertainment then this is the movie to watch.
As far as I can tell 2000 has been a good year for Hong Kong flicks. Tsui Hark made his return with Time and Tide(one of the reasons Nicholas Tse is not in Gen-Y Cops), Aaron Kwok is making his name in the action flick business with 2000 AD and China Strike Force. Wong Kar-Wai has a film finally in wide release theatrically in the US with In the Mood for Love. And lets not forget the awesome Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon although funded by Americans with a Taiwanese director, it features the coolest actor in the world(who happens to be from Hong Kong), Chow Yun-Fat(Zhou Ren Fa for all you mandarin speakers). There was also the enjoyable Tokyo Raiders which had the privelage of being the biggest grossing flick of 2000 in the former pearl of the British Empire.
Now how does Gen-Y Cops fit in to all this? Well, it signals the international appeal that Hong Kong films are generating and developing. It is in 90% English and even features two legit American actors in Paul Rudd and that stunt man guy who doubled for Michael Jae White in Spawn. The movie purposely cast actors with competent English like Maggie Q, Kristy Chung and Edison Chan because there is a goal to release this flick internationally. Now, should it be released internationally? The answer is: maybe. The original Hong Kong version of this movie will probably not be released Stateside.

For starters, with exception to Paul Rudd and a few others, the English dialogue in this movie is completely atrocious. Edison Chan, the replacement for Nicholas Tse, talks in a pretentious pseudo ghetto/Canadian accent. Considering that Chan is from Toronto the accent is going to stick but he didn't have to add a bunch of pathetic phrases like "what up yo?" and "What you talking about dog?" because he sounds like a complete moron. He really lacks the charisma of Nicholas Tse and the absence of the Hong Kong pop star is really felt. The other Caucasian actors aren't that good either. So with the bad English dialogue alone, Gen-Y Cops is pretty un-releasable in its uncut format. Probably they will release a cut version with most of the bad English either dubbed over or cut entirely from the film(drastically cutting it down from its 1hr 53 minute length).

However, there is a lot to like about this movie. For starters Gen-X Cops alumni, Stephen Fung and Sam Lee are back and better than ever. Both are hilarious as the defiant cops. Sam Lee throughout tries to mutter English slang but it is deliberately funny when he completely fails. The Cantonese speakers of this movie are definitely a plus. The only problem is the wardrobe for these two looks like they were stolen from a 70's porn film! Also Edison Chan is good when he is speaking Cantonese with Fung and Lee.

Like I mentioned before, Paul Rudd is very good, making his action movie debut. I haven't seen any of his other movies but here his charisma is very apparent. He also has good chemistry with the Hong Kong stars which really helps the film flow.

The main reason I like this movie though is the direction of Benny Chan. This guy has turned out a lot of good movies. He directed probably Jackie Chan's best post-Drunken Master II flick, Who Am I, and Gen-X Cops, a highly enjoyable flick. In this picture he takes the budget he was given and tries to do everything he can with it. I hope that he will make at least one Hollywood effort, then again, maybe not because they will suck him dry like they did to other great directors Tsui Hark and Ringo Lam(even John Woo didn't get away clean). The steadicam work is just as good as any Hollywood effort and the special effects are as good as they are going to get outside of Hollywood.

Gen-Y Cops is not as good as its predecessor, Gen-X Cops but it doesn't fail to entertain. If you want to see the uncut version of this buy the Hong Kong original on DVD or VCD and don't wait for Columbia, Miramax or New Line to butcher it!! Some of the English may stink but it is watchable. The good far outweighs the bad.