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 Gene Generation 2009-05-25 I heard there was a movie with Bai Ling in it where she was an assassin in the future and she wears a lot of leather. Both of these statements are true, which meant that I was destined to watch this movie. I wasn't expecting much and I don't know if that qualifies as my expectations being fulfilled or not. I did get to see Bai Lings boobs (twice), which does sort of elevate the whole status of this whole project.  The question one must ask oneself when venturing into a film is this: “Are Bai Ling's boobs enough to carry a whole movie? Even if they are generally clad in leather and sprayed down?” Sadly, it depends more on the genre of the movie than the quality of visible boobage. Bai Ling manages to almost pull off her role. The supporting cast, on the other hand, was really not up to the task, which is surprising because some of them are recognizable actors who do well in the other roles they have appeared in.  There is the case of the little brother, who is supposed to be a rapscallion troublemaker who is always down on his luck and I think he's supposed to be comic relief we feel sympathy for. I cannot express how much I hated this character and for me one of the best scenes in the movie is when a guy puts a gun in his mouth causing him to throw up. The only way the scene would have been better is if he had pulled the trigger. This character also gets peed on, but that's just gross.  In total, this means that Bai Ling and her boobs are not enough to carry a whole film (at least in the cyber-futuristic-action genre). Nor can the writers of this film understand that despicable characters are not appealing. I think we all want to root for an underdog, but if the dog has the mange you just want to keep them away from you and as sad as it is to admit it, you are sort of relieved when they are dead.  Other than Bai Ling's boobs the big draw of the movie would be the futuristic landscape they produced, mainly with greenscreen and CG. The overcrowded city is walled in by a massive structure that I assume is supposed to keep the populace in. The reasoning behind this is never really explained, which I am actually ok with since you can't make a whole new society and then explain every aspect in it while still carrying on a story. The problem is the ending of the film is a big reveal about the cities of the world, which up to that point had just been a backdrop. There are some conversations by the bad guys about going to a different city where everything will be better, but that's as much significance as it's given.  Here's the big spoiler, if you haven't already figured it out. If you don't want to know skip this paragraph and jump to the end even though you should have figured out that a pretty cheap Sci Fi story that involves wanting to go somewhere else always has the same ending. All the cities are exactly the same. Shock and horror. They all seem to be on some burnt out planet. They also seem to have no way of sustaining themselves. None of this is explained in the film and to be honest, when it happens you may not have cared enough to notice.  I think Bai Ling could do a movie and be good if they made the character just a regular Chinese chick, in leather, then stuck her in a situation that required to act like a regular Chinese chick in unusual circumstances. Just don't spend too much time trying to get her to act. The guy who plays the little brother...I hope he changes his hair. search tags: movie gene generation review bai ling add comment to post #243 
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