A cop goes undercover in a ruthless underworld organization to stop a gang leader, only to put himself in great danger after being exposed by his former protégé and best friend. Chan Chi-Lung has been an infiltrator in Cheung Mo-Hung's Hong Kong triad gang for many years. After a failure of a recent negotiation by Lung with the other three local triad gangs on behalf of Hung makes the latter suspicious of Lung's identity. Hung sets to wipe out every undercover cop in his gang and as a result many cops are caught and wiped out. Sensing the danger, Lung requests to put an end to his undercover career from his captain, Cheung. However, Cheung sends Lung to Mainland China to infiltrate a business of "Special Identity" trading instead. The business is run by Hung's best protégé, Sunny, who was Lung's previous buddy in the gang. Cheung promises to reinstate Lung's police identity in conclusion of the mission once Sunny's business breaks down. Lung agrees, and joining him are local police officer Fang Jing and her chief Lei Peng from the Mainland Chinese police force. But before they can get to Sunny, the latter suddenly vanishes leaving Lung exposed and in great danger. Pardon for my bad English, I am not writing a full review but only posting some of my personal thoughts after watching the movie.<br/><br/>1. The trailer spoils some of the exciting fight scenes in this movie. 2. Lower your expectation and you will still be entertained. 3. Not quite the martial art movie if you come all the way from SPL and Flashpoint 4. The fighting choreography does not come from Donnie Yen himself, I suppose. 5. The fighting is realistic, however, more true to the real street fighting than ever. 6. The car chasing scenes and the stunts are awesome, better than the fight, maybe. 7. Not a bad story, but without twist and very straight forward. You will not get the same story impact and the strong feeling for vengeance like SPL and Flashpoint. 8. I am a little disappointed that the final battle does not carry the same furiousness I experienced from SPL and Flashpoint. 9. Having saying that, it makes both SPL and Flashpoint a classics. 10.I should have just give it a 5-star, but 1 more star to salute Donnie Yen for trying something new, trying to create another variant to his already awesome movie collections.<br/><br/>My rating : 6/10<br/><br/>PS I found that the Young Detective Dee is a more entertaining movie if you want some cool fights. I am not really a big martial arts movie fan, but I enjoy watching a good one when I get the chance. "Special ID" is the only other Donnie Yen film I have seen after the phenomenal "Ip Man" and its lesser sequel. I was curious to watch Donnie fight in the modern setting. This film definitely confirms his excellence in martial arts choreography and execution – from the quiet discipline of wuxia before to rough and rugged mixed martial arts this time.<br/><br/>The story is common and predictable, Chan Chi-lung (Donnie Yen) is an undercover Hongkong cop who gets sent to China to help corner an up-and- coming crime boss, Sunny (Andy On), with whom he was close to in his previous assignment. There were no really big surprises or twists. But of course, we do not typically watch these types of films expecting a profound story, but it is mostly for the exhilarating action scenes. And in this aspect, I thought "Special ID" delivers big time.<br/><br/>It was cool to see a different Donnie Yen as a brash and reckless cop, which was totally in contrast with his subdued character in "Ip Man." His range of fighting skills were all very elegant to watch in those incredibly and impossibly choreographed fight and car chase scenes. Be they in enclosed spaces or in wide-open areas, Donnie Yen is exhilarating to watch.<br/><br/>Andy On plays a very convincing new debonair crime lord from the US. He figures in a very long climactic scenes of car chase with fighting, followed by an intense scene of bloody hand-to-hand combat. He was able to match the grace and flow of Yen's movements yet their scenes come across as gritty and realistic.<br/><br/>As Yen's Chinese female police partner Fang Jing, pretty actress Tian Jing was made to mouth some pretty cheesy lines. But when it comes to her action scenes, her awkwardness disappears. She was unexpectedly awesome in her parkour scenes jumping and running across rooftops, and of course, her major fight scene set unbelievably inside the confines of a Land Rover! <br/><br/>Reviews from many die-hard martial arts film fanatics have been harsh, calling this film a miss in Donnie Yen's filmography because of its sloppiness. However, for the casual viewer who only watches martial arts films occasionally, I do not see anything wrong with the action sequences I saw here in "Special ID". While they may miss the mark for bonafide MMA connoisseurs, for an ordinary guy like me, those action scenes and stunts were quite exciting and very entertaining. 6/10. All the performers are supremely entertaining while dealing or defying horrible deaths… but Yen unfortunately lacks the kind of charisma that can elevate a genre film to a higher level of satisfaction.
Tamwalsh replied
292 weeks ago