Lincoln, the younger brother of a deceased ex-policeman in China, swears to find the man who murdered his brother. While he investigates the murder on his own in Hong Kong, he meets Michael, a reckless CID officer who is also investigating the murder despite his suspension. While Michael and Lincoln began with hating each other's guts, they soon become chummy as they dig deeper into the case. Their common goal bonds them to form a dynamic duo, which ultimately signals the start of their transformation from playboys to professional policemen.
An extremely brutal armed robbery case has brought two very unusual young detectives together in Hong Kong. Both men have been known not to follow the usual rules of conduct in solving crimes. Lincoln (played by Chen Kun), the younger brother of the deceased, an ex-policeman in China, has sworn to find the man who has murdered his brother. While he investigates the murder on his own in Hong Kong, he meets Michael (Shawn Yue), a CID officer on suspension. Michael has often been warned against insubordination and for pulling his own stunts to capture criminals on the run. Things get ugly when they realise they are competing for the affections of the same girl: Lisa (Linda Chung), Michael's ex-girlfriend. The cops must put aside their issues in order to get to the bottom of the case.
Overall, the acting in "Playboy Cops" is mediocre at best. Shawn Yue plays his role well enough, being a tough-talking, rich-boy cop who gets suspended due to his unorthodox (and offensive) ways. However, Yue is very much like Keanu Reeves in his acting, in the sense that he has a narrow, homogenised range. He expression basically remains unchanged throughout the movie, but this is very much a part of his character so it works all the same.
Linda Chung is good at displaying the emotions her character feels, but drama is always easier to portray than comedy, and she doesn't have a lot of comedic scenes to contend with in this film. However, when she discovers her true love Lincoln is dying, her raw passion explodes onto the screen and it is truly the only genuine, emotional scene in the whole film. Otherwise, Linda's character Lisa is basically a very soft-spoken, whiny sort of girl whose disposition is like that of a timid mouse, even when she's angry.
When it comes to Chen Kun's acting, I don't think there is anything good to say about it at all. His expressions always seem wrong, and throughout the movie, even during the really sad bits, he looks as though he's on the verge of bursting into laughter, or has a smug smile on his face, often at inappropriate times. He really appears to be an amateur and honestly does a lousy job. His character should be one that is easily likeable, but instead you feel like slapping him.
The cinematography was nothing to shout about, and there were certain camera angles used which didn't add anything special to the whole film. I also didn't see the point in them focusing on the foreground all the time and totally blurring out the background when two characters were interacting with each other. You only clearly see the face of one when you want to know what the other is thinking and feeling. Editing was choppy which led to the continuity in the film being rocky and awkward. The photography left a lot to be desired in some parts, as the characters were commenting on how beautiful their city was; yet audiences don't get to see much of it at all.
The soundtrack was a bit lame in the slower, more emotional scenes, but the action scenes were pretty good, even though they occurred a bit too frequently. Before you have time to recover from the last one, another one starts up again, with the compulsory breaking of tables and spilling of blood. Moments of comedy are few and far in between, and when they do crop up they pretty much fall flat.
Like all Hong Kong cop movies, this one was quite enjoyable, but altogether forgettable. If you're looking for a lot of action scenes with an Asian twist where people are pounding each other to a bloody pulp, this is the movie for you.
