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Heavenly kings lost in counterfeit crime

Future Cops, with Andy Lau Tak-wah, Jacky Cheung Hok-yau, and Aaron Kwok Fu-sing. Directed by Wong Jing. On Golden Harvest circuit. Blade of Fury, with Tik Lung, Rosamund Kwan Chi-lam, Cynthia Yeung Lai-ching, and Yeung Fan. Directed by Sammo Hung Kam-po. On Empire circuit.

WRITER-director-producer Wong Jing is a genre unto himself. The most prolific of Hongkong filmmakers, his style is a lack of style, an ability to patch together elements from popular trends into a commercial pastiche. His films are an acquired taste; one,alas, I have yet to acquire. But the director's devotees will find in Future Cops a better-than-average Wong Jing comedy.

Part-Back to the Future, part-Japanese comic book fantasy, part-video game, part-Fight Back to School, along with an all-star cast that includes three of the four ''heavenly king'' Canto-pop teen idols - Future Cops is nothing if not calculated to set cash registers ringing. Too calculated, perhaps. It didn't set many bells ringing on my laugh-meter.

The story begins in 2043. A group of dastardly villains plot to neutralise a powerful judge and decide their best bet is to journey by time machine back a half century to July 1, 1993. Their mission is to brainwash the future jurist (Dicky Cheung) whilehe's a mere high school student at St Yuk Keung Secondary School (the academy's Cantonese name is a play on words for ''strong sexual desire'').

The bad guys don't have a chance because three ''future cops'' (Andy Lau, Jacky Cheung, and Simon Yam) are on their trail. Despite his prominent billing, Aaron Kwok puts in what amounts to a cameo appearance as the fourth cop.

The raucous antics include Dicky's sex-starved mother (Kingdom Yuen); his cruel/cool sister (Chingmy Yau); and the school bully (Andy Hui). Ching Siu-tung handled the action sequences, but they're not among his most inspired. It all sounds pretty over-the-top, and it is. But there's so much we've seen before - and to better effect.

The picture comes across as a third or fourth generation copy of bits and pieces from recent hits. Future Cops will amuse viewers who have never seen the originals and/or fans. But nobody will confuse this with the real thing.

WHY this dreary martial arts epic, Blade of Fury, should be released during the prime days of summer vacation is evidence that there aren't enough local films being produced to supply the five first run Cantonese cinema chains. Blade of Fury is yet another version of the heroic exploits of Big Blade Wong, a Chinese patriot who battled the reactionary policies of the Dowager Empress in the waning years of the 19th century. He has been the subject of numerous films, notably a 1985 version by the Xi'an Film Studio and the 1973 Shaw Brothers production The Iron Bodyguard. With a pedigree like this, perhaps it is not surprising that Blade of Fury is something of a throwback to the kung-fu pictures of 20 years ago, combined with the current trend of shootingin Mainland China.

Fault cannot be found with the technical aspects: the action scenes are well-choreographed if not terribly exciting, the art direction shows proper attention to period detail, and the performances are earnest.

The Chinese locations are well-chosen, and such sights as camels passing through a dusty northern village are particularly evocative. But a hackneyed script and Sammo Hung's pedestrian direction take all the excitement of what is in fact an extremely colourful chapter in Qing Dynasty history, the Wuxu Coup which attempted to introduce constitutional reform in 1898.

The story focuses on the efforts by martial arts hero Wong (Yeung Fan) to rescue the progressive minister Tan Sitong (Tik Lung) from an imperial dungeon and thus save the reform movement.

While the male leads are forceful, their female counterparts are rather extraneous to the goings-on. Rosamund Kwan Chi-lam has little to do as Wong's lover. In keeping with the fashion for cross-dressing, Cynthia Yeung plays a warrior who masquerades asa man. But her delicate features, heavy eye make-up and lipstick make her look more like a female impersonator than an anti-Qing rebel.

Some intellectuals see in Blade of Fury an allegory of China after the June 4 massacre, the battle between Qing diehards and constitutional reformists symbolising the struggle between hardline Communists and advocates of democracy. For all I know, this may have been the filmmakers' intention, but I simply don't see much corroboration. But if there is any subtle allegorical writing between Blade of Fury's lines, it must be in invisible ink.

Political intrigues are submerged by the surfeit of kung-fu, with choppy editing and artificial sound effects more evocative of Shaws 1970 than Beijing 1898 or 1989. Blade of Fury could charitably be called an homage to 70s kung-fu, but its lack of creativity makes it seem more like an anachronism.

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