Young Policemen in Love
Reviewed by YTSL
Little doubt should exist that this trifle of
a movie is much more than a vehicle for an attractive troika of young Cantopop
stars cum teen idols. Ditto re its being a lesser work for at least
two -- if not all three -- of these talented individuals. After all,
we're talking about the appearances in a Wong Jing produced, Chu Yen-Ping
directed film by: A man whose portrayal of a pineapple-eating policeman
undoubtedly captured more female hearts than Tony Leung Chiu-Wai's equally
love-lorn cop in "Chungking Express"; a lass whose debut movie was "Ashes
of Time"; and a fellow who Tsui Hark had chosen to act as Charlie Yeung's
romantic interest in -- not one but -- two Film Workshop offerings (i.e.,
"The Lovers" and "Love in the Time of Twilight").
Considering that Takeshi Kaneshiro had also previously performed well in
tandem with Charlie Yeung in "Fallen Angels", it was a given that there would
be good chemistry between the lead actress and both the main males in YOUNG
POLICEMEN IN LOVE. What does come as a pleasant surprise -- as well
as helpful necessity, considering that the female member of the headlined
trio does not show up until the 50th minute of the film -- is that Nicky
Wu and Takeshi Kaneshiro (playing a pair of nattily dressed policemen; one
of whom is called Garlic -- because he has a propensity for chomping on those
smelly vegetables for courage and at leisure -- and the other of whom is
known as Gimmick because, well...!) work well together and complement each
other too.
YOUNG POLICEMEN IN LOVE starts off with Garlic and Gimmick -- a.k.a. agents
(89)007 and (89)008 respectively! -- hanging out and bantering cum bickering
while waiting for an informant, then springing into John Woo parody style
action upon finding that their stool pigeon had been tailed by bad guys,
and following the criminals to a warehouse where a balletic gun battle ensues
and a bag full of cocaine is successfully taken away from the possession
of villains. Although this legal heist makes heroes of the duo, it
also creates danger for them by way of the still at-large chief gangster
wanting revenge (along with the return of that which he considers to be his).
The two policemen's superior's solution to this is to give them a special
assignment: Which involves Garlic and Gimmick going undercover as students
of Wong Fei Hung(!) School to ensure the safety of a high-level Mainland
Chinese official's daughter slated to attend an academy which, if not entirely
suspect, at least possesses one very strange disciplinary teacher (who readily
welcomes whatever opportunity he gets to administer "no shadow kicks" and
other kungfu moves on delinquent or even just lackadaisical students!) and
a female teacher who turns out to be a policewoman assigned to help them
fulfill their duties (who both of our bachelor duo fall for). While
there were a few goofball antics and gags to already giggle at beforehand,
the fun begins in earnest with the arrival of the quirky-acting -- and (initially)
exceedingly homely-looking -- Mainland Chinese girl introduced as Kong Mei
Lai; not least because the decision is made that the best way to unsuspiciously
be constantly around her is for one of the two handsome as well as young
members of the Royal Hong Kong Police to (pretend to seek to) court her.
IMHO, the incredibly winning Charlie Yeung -- who must be the first person
to have ever decided to forego a successful career in Hong Kong movies to
become an image consultant in Malaysia! -- manages to steal the show even
while also bringing out the best in her co-stars. The absolute highlight
sequence in YOUNG POLICEMEN IN LOVE involves her character's twarting, at
every step, Gimmick's best laid plans to impress her by enacting his vaunted
"Five Invincible Steps to Romance". The climactic showdown between
the vengeful villains from earlier in the movie and our two heroes plus the
one heroine also makes for good cinema. All in all, particularly if
you are a fan of the prematurely retired actress, Kaneshiro or Nicky Wu (who
gets to look especially good in the end battle), the viewing of this -- admittedly
apt to be all over the place and sometimes downright nonsensical -- work
ought to constitute a fun way to spend some ninety minutes of your time.
My rating for the film: 7.