The Gene Generation (2007) - This movie could become a cult trash movie of the cyber-punk genre - 7/10 (07/05/12)

"The Gene Generation" is quite a mixed bag of a cyber-punk flick. The movie has loads of trash elements as the somewhat cheap special effects, especially from a visual point of view. To my surprise, this adds a charming effect to the movie and gives the whole thing a quite alternative identity that is a welcome change with many other visually polished high definition three dimensions flicks nowadays. This element fits to the dark and depressive surroundings, the weird characters and the quite diversified and unusual soundtrack varying from soft piano melodies to straight forward electronic Gothic music. This flick definitely has a lot of elements to become a cult trash movie in the years to come.

The story line of the flick is quite thin and more or less important. The movie doesn't build up much tension but a quite interesting desperate atmosphere. The pace is hold on a high level with a lot of fighting scenes with a high variety of guns and swords plus some martial arts moments that are sadly not always quite well cut and caught by the camera team. The movie contains also some emotional and erotic moments that are a welcome change in this dark tale of dystopia. Thanks to this good degree of variety, there aren't too many lengths in here.

To be honest, the biggest reason to watch this biopunk movie featuring many science-fiction and action elements are the tight leather clothing, the exotic face painting and the highly exposed beauty of main actress Bai Ling. To my positive surprise, the world star that made it from Sichuan province to California is not only nice to watch but she is also acting rather well. Her relationship to her brother who is always in trouble with money, gambling and mighty enemies and her romantic connection to a neighbour that is a hunted scientist are credible and she shows some great emotions in those scenes. That's the reason why I think that she has way more potential than being limited to play the crazy, lonesome, superficial whore image that Hollywood made out of that eccentric woman that has been through many hard times in her life. This is one of the rare movies from the last years where she can finally exploit a little bit more than this stereotype and truly act. The director still plays with her image of course but this time she plays authentically a responsible, serious and tough woman and not only a strange sex monster. There is only one sex scene and this one is quite credible. The rest is the same kind of dark eroticism that you also have in the Underworld movies and that fits quite well to the final product.

The other actors in this movie do a rather good job, for example Parry Shen or the short appearances of acting legend Faye Dunaway. Only Alec Newman is not quite convincing in this flick and his emotions towards a shining Bai Ling could be more passionate.

In the end, this movie is surely better than its reputation. I would definitely watch it again on a dark autumn or winter night. It's a very entertaining flick with cool action scenes, great music and a surprisingly good main actress in a dark dystopian atmosphere. Of course, fans of Bai Ling should also watch this. On the other side, the special effects are not well caught and the story line could be a little bit more original. This movie might be interesting for those that like movies such as Underworld, Equilibrium or The Matrix.