1.0 out of 5 stars
What is Japanesse for mumble?, July 30, 2009
This review is from: New York Cop (DVD)
Nyû Yôku No Koppu (New York Cop) 3/10: The generically named New York Cop is, not surprisingly, a generic undercover cop story taking place in early nineties New York City back when the lower east side still had crime, drugs and ethnically diverse homeless.
Filmed on location this Japanese production has a decent enough action; a plot, that while certainly muddled, moves along nicely; and that whacky over the top Japanese racism that cracks me up every single time. In fact, there are times it is as insane as an Italian exploitation film such as 1990 The Bronx Warriors. (They have Hillbilly rednecks in Manhattan. Staten Island I could believe but the Meatpacking district?) New York Cop does have one fatal flaw however. It stars Tôru Nakamura.
Toru does not speak English well. In fact, he really does not speak at all. To cover the fact he really doesn't speak English, he instead makes those noises that the teachers in the Peanuts cartoons used to make. In addition, to cover up that fact he is just mumbling sounds, they basically turn his mike off. One will be straining to hear a word. This is not always fatal to a film. I have seen dozen of badly dubbed European exploitation films where a character or two is unintelligible. However, Toru is in almost every bloody scene and it becomes irritating quickly.
Now you may defend him by admitting that not every kung-fu cop can be Jackie Chan. This of course is a fair argument if Jackie Chan was not already in the film with a small role. In fact, the rest of the cast is so above board one wonders if the lead cardboard cutout is not somebody's nephew or something.
Along with Jackie Chan, (or a Jackie Chan lookalike or perhaps clone as Jackie doesn't appear in the credits) are Mira Sorvino as the love interest with the Eighties hair and sweater. Joining her are Tony Sirico (Paulie from the Sopranos) as the Mob guy; Relative unknown Chad McQueen (Who easily gives the best performance in the film) as the 'good guy' gang leader, and Sorvino's overprotective brother. Hell it even has a decent run by Andreas Katsulas (The one armed person in the Harrison Ford version of the Fugitive) if they had given Chan (or the Chan lookalike) the lead role and tighten the story a little bit this very well could have worked.
Of course if you are going to go to the trouble of making a good movie you might want to jettison the Serpico reject undercover cop, the horrible musical soundtrack during the Sorvino sex scene, and the Dukes of Hazard rejects gang. I was in the Lower east side of New York in the early nineties and I saw many strange things, large group of hillbillies flying confederate flags was not one of them.
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3.0 out of 5 stars
Not bad, March 12, 2007
As B movies go this isn't too bad. It's flawed in places and a little slow at times, but the style and acting are generally pretty decent. Chad McQueen puts in one of his better performances, and there a few famous faces in here too. Worth watching but it's not quite as great as it could have been.
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