Future Cops (1993) - A Review

 

The infamous Hong Kong take on the Street Fighter characters.

Future Cops is a fantasy comedy movie released in Hong Kong in 1993 and stars Andy Lau, Simon Yam, Jacky Cheung, Dicky Cheung, Chingmy Yau, Ekin Cheng, Billy Chow, Charlie Yeung, Andy Hui, Aaron Kwok, Ken Lo, and Richard Ng. It was written and directed by Wong Jing, with action directed by Tony Ching Siu-Tung. Future Cops features characters based on the video game characters in Street Fighter II.

Dicky Cheung as Chan Tai-hung (left), Andy Hui as Kei-on the bully (right).

In the future, The General (M. Bison, played by Ken Lo) is imprisoned for trying to take over the world. His henchmen, Kent (Ken, played by Ekin Cheng), Thai King (Sagat, played by Billy Chow), and Toyota (E. Honda, played by William Duen) decide to go back in time to 1993 to brainwash the judge that convicted their leader. The Future Cops get wind of the criminals' plans in a battle with them and tell their superior, who sends them to 1993 to protect the future judge. Lung (Ryu, played by Aaron Kwok) stays behind because he is their superior's brother-in-law .

Ti Man (Vega, played by Andy Lau), Broom Man (Guile, played by Jacky Cheung), and Sing (Dhalsim, played by Simon Yam) arrive in 1993 to find that the future judge, Chan Tai Hung (played by Dicky Cheung) is a bit of a loser. He is still in high school, even though he is 28 years old, still lives at home with his mom and sister, and is constantly bullied by everyone at his school. Learning this, they help him stand up to his bullies and become more of a success in school.

As you can imagine, Chan Tai Hung starts evolving as a person, even becoming successful with his crush, Choy Nei (played by Charlie Yeung). Ti Man becomes involved with Tai Hung's sister, Chun May (you can guess who she becomes, played by Chingmy Yau), and Broom Man gets involved with Tai Hung's bully's girlfriend (played by Winnie Lau). Eventually, the bad guys make their presence known, and take over the school. It's up to the Future Cops to level up and stop the General from taking over the world...

The Street Fighters... I mean Future Cops. Yes, that is Simon Yam as Dhalsim (far left) and Jacky Cheung as Guile (far right).

I had heard of Future Cops back in the day after finding out the director of City Hunter (1993) made a 'Street Fighter II' movie. I could never find much information about it, but I saw the odd movie still and trailer here and there. I finally found it on my favorite DVD online store and ordered it (paid for it and everything). It's been close to 20 years and I still haven't gotten it in the mail! As you can imagine, trying to find and watch this movie has been quite the struggle. I finally found the whole movie online, and I watched it. Did it live up to my expectations?

It did not. The director, Wong Jing, is known for making wacky, silly comedies that you either love or hate. I've seen City Hunter (which I liked at first... now I find it too silly) and Last Hero In China (1993, only really liked the action in that one), so I was expecting some zaniness, but... this is just too wacky for my tastes. Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of funny scenes, but there is a lot of annoying things in it, too. It also doesn't help that there are only three action scenes in this movie (and much like the Jean-Claude Van Damme Street Fighter movie, most of the actors don't have martial arts skills). The Street Fighter fight scene in City Hunter is better than all of the fight scenes in Future Cops. It also bothers me that all these grown adult men are pursuing relationships with teenage high school girls.

Despite all of that, there are some good performances in this. Andy Lau is good as the sensitive Vega. Dicky Cheung is likable (for the most part) as the bullied future judge, though he says some horrible things to the people that are laughing at him (it's really messed up). Andy Hui as the main bully is great (as is his hairstyle). It's always great when Charlie Yeung shows up in a movie (though she just plays the love interest). Chingmy Yau is the best thing in this movie; she is just so funny. Richard Ng is in this as well, and of course he's hilarious! There is also an homage to a classic video game that was pretty unexpected!

Ken Lo as M. Bison is an inspired choice. Ken and E. Honda are his henchmen.

As stated above, there are only three main action scenes in Future Cops. Inspired by Street Fighter II: Turbo (I assume), the fights are super sped up with special moves galore. You'll see Hadokens, Spinning Bird Kicks, Hurricane Kicks, Yoga Flames, Sonic Booms, and more. Sound effects from the Super Nintendo/Super Famicom version of Street Fighter II are used in the fight scenes, at least. Despite all that, I can't say the fights were actually good or exciting. They are over the top, but not in a good way. Really disappointing. Some may like the fights, though!

So, do I recommend Future Cops? I would say no, unless you are that much of a Street Fighter fan that you have to consume every type of Street Fighter media. You may also like it if you are looking for a wacky and insane over the top type of movie. As I've said in other reviews: humor is subjective. What's funny to me may not be funny to you, and vice versa. Otherwise, steer clear. This movie is a clear case of cashing in on a phenomenon, without actually paying for the license. I was looking forward to this movie for years, and it broke my heart when I finally watched it. It's not the end of the world. There are three excellent Street Fighter movies in existence (two anime, one live action), so I can watch those for my Street Fighter movie fix. If you still decide to watch Future Cops, go into it with expectations for a crazy comedy and not for an awesome action movie based on a video game.

Reviewed by David Williams