Paul Rudd: Hong Kong Action Star?

Posted by on February 10th, 2009   Filed under: Action, Comedy, International
Source: Videogum

Did you ever stop to wonder how exactly Paul Rudd came to be one of the biggest names in comedy today? Most people would probably agree that the tipping point in his career was his recurring role as Phoebe’s boyfriend Mike on Friends (after which he went on to star in both Anchorman and The 40 Year Old Virgin, firmly embedding himself as a permanent member of the Judd Apatow crew). But you can’t say that the man hasn’t paid his dues. His first big break was starring alongside Alicia Silverstone in Clueless, followed by roles in Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, Romeo + Juliet, and Hong Kong action flick Gen-Y Cops!

Gen-Y Cops is the sequel to the Jackie Chan-produced Gen-X Cops, about a group of hip, young police officers, one of whom is accused of stealing an American robot and setting it loose on the streets of Hong Kong. This puts them on the bad side of smarmy FBI agent Ian Curtis (aka Paul Rudd). Lucky for us, someone decided to edit together clips of Rudd’s best scenes from the film and upload them to YouTube, so that we can all appreciate his true comedic talent. I swear, if someone would just slap Apatow’s name on this and re-release it in theatres now, it would probably make a fortune.



  • Daemon

    Paul Rudd is terrific in, “Overnight Delivery”. Very funny/cute flick starring him and Reese Witherspoon. His comedy elements really shine here.

    cheers

  • Wow, with the longer, curlier hair, he looks a tiny bit like Aussie singer Ben Lee:
    http://kimmib.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/ben-lee.jpg

  • Paul Rudd: The man who became a comedy “star” by impersonating Will Ferrell.

  • Neil M

    “Paul Rudd: The man who became a comedy “star” by impersonating Will Ferrell.”

    Jay, is that you? I don’t get this argument at all. Rudd was funny before he ever started hanging out with Ferrell. His delivery has stayed pretty much the same over the years. Maybe there were glimpses of Ron Burgundy coming through his character in Knocked Up, but that was pretty minimal. I think he sounded more like Brian Fantana anyways, his own character in Anchorman. I mean, The 40 Year Old Virgin? He was hilarious in that movie and sounded nothing like Ferrell. I dunno, somebody else back me up here! The guy is a gifted comedic actor who deserves the success that he has gained.

  • Hey, I have a VHS copy of Gen-Y Cops on my shelf. Maybe I should review it for Killer Imports? Nah.

  • Neil M

    Yes, Reed. Yes.

  • Bas

    Hilarious!

  • cronenfly

    His characters name is Ian Curtis? thats weird…he kinda looks like tomas jane

  • Yeah, though Jay is usually dead-on about this kinda stuff, I don’t get the Paul Rudd aping Will Ferrell thing either. To me, Paul Rudd’s basically been the same over the years, maybe edging a bit towards the goofy/absurdist style in the past few years. But I don’t see any big Will Ferrell imitations in his recent performances.

  • stevie_boy

    That fight scene reminds me of that Entourage episode where Vince Chase does that foreign advert for some chinese energy drink. The CGI is terrible and for a feature film, the robot looks like a B-grade knockoff of a Cylon design from galactica.