Yen takes on the role of Zilong Chen, an undercover police officer deep within the ranks of one of China’s most ruthless underworld gangs. The leader of the gang, Xiong (Collin Chou – JET LI’S FEARLESS, THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM, THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS, THE MATRIX RELOADED), has made it his priority to weed out the government infiltrators in his midst. Struggling to keep his family together and his identity concealed, Chen is torn between two worlds.
Upping the stakes, as Chen’s undercover comrades are being dealt with, one by one, Chen fears his days are numbered. Now, he must risk everything to take down the organization and reclaim the life he lost when he took on this perilous assignment. As the action mounts, Chen must do everything he can to protect the SPECIAL IDENTITY he wishes he never had before it’s too late.
REVIEW:
Special ID is one of the most anticipated Hong Kong action films for a long time. There was a long delay for its release and today I had the opportunity to watch the film in the cinema. I live in Xi’an, China and I watched it at the 10:20am showing; there were only 6 other people in the cinema. The version I saw was in Mandarin (the original film was shot in Cantonese), but it did have English subtitles, so I was able to follow the film without any problems.
The film has been labeled, “the next Flash Point“. This excited me greatly because the final fight scene in Flash Point is my favourite fight scene ever filmed (and I have a collection of about 1,000 Hong Kong films). I wanted more…and we’ve waited 6 years.
I will say that Special ID has more fight scenes than Flash Point and I will admit that I enjoyed Special ID more as a film than Flash Point. However, I am hugely disappointed with the film. Why? The fight scenes were average. They pale in comparison to the fights in ‘Flash Point’ and even SPL. There are about 3 big fights in the film, with several very short fights throughout the film too.
The first fight is a very strange duel between Donnie Yen and Ken Lo. Two truly amazing on screen fighters but the fight is quite bad in my opinion. Ken Lo appeared to be doing some Thai boxing and there was an absence of crisp hand exchanges. Also, there was limited leg work. Two great kickers producing very little kicking? Strange.
There is a good fight in the middle where Donnie fights a group of men. This is definitely the best fight in the entire film because Donnie gets to show off some impressive trademark moves of his; including some nice flashy kicks. Good use of slow motion during periods of this fight too. Some of his opponents are armed with various weapons, but this actually makes it quite interesting. No lengthy exchanges here, but some nice looking moves.
The final fight scene is between Donnie and Andy On. It lasts about 6 minutes and at least half of the entire fight is MMA grappling, something that I don’t like. If you love this, then you’ll love this fight. However, if you like Hong Kong style hand exchanges with some impressive kicking, then you’ll be greatly disappointed (like I was). Andy On is an average screen fighter and Donnie looks far superior here. Donnie throws some good kicks but where is the hand choreography? Very little on display.
Overall, I enjoyed the film because the characters were interesting and likeable. Donnie’s relationship with his mother and his female colleague was well-written and fun to watch. As a film, the story and character development/relationships are quite strong. However, most of us will be watching the film for some spectacular fight scenes, and it fails to deliver on that front. Collin Chou is totally wasted in this film, Ken Lo failed to impress here and I wish Vincent Zhao had played the villain instead of Andy On. It’s definitely worth watching, but I was a lot more satisfied after watching Flash Point, and Special ID would struggle to get into my top 10 Donnie films.
Written by FCSyndicate Asian Cinema contributor Graeme Noble (18/10/13). Noble is an acclaimed independent filmmaker and actor, and represents one-half of his award-winning independent film company, Noble Brothers Productions with brother John-William Noble. For more information on his work, visit http://www.noblebrotherproductons.org.
Native New Yorker. Been writing for a long time now, and I enjoy what I do. Be nice to me!
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October 26, 2013 @ 11:17 pm
sounds sweet.
can't wait when it's my turn to watch the sweet movie:)
i don't care if the fights were average.
As long as I see some 'smart' grappling and take downs like Flashpoint end fight.
The end fight was just so genius!
i want to see more of that sweetness in this:)
November 25, 2013 @ 12:30 am
I saw this movie.
i agree with what you've said.
even though the movie has many fights, they are not all impressive as Flashpoint and the Gangster fight is the best out of them, though not a WOW factor fight.
i think this movie's vibe would have been better if Vincent was still in the cast:/
January 3, 2014 @ 6:10 pm
I agree with you, David, to fight Donnie and Andy was a terrible fight, kind, found more or less good, the worst is that Andy Donnie wanted to do better than any of the movies, I thought it right to do this, but could show their techniques against them, paying a lot of punches, kicks, knees, as he did in Flashpoint against Collin Chou, half of the fight against Andy's Wrestling and MMA, I wanted a bit of boxing in this film, several punches Andy with the left and right hand
December 30, 2013 @ 1:14 pm
I saw, and I agree also, I wish the Special ID was better than Flashpoint and SPL, the Director Clarence Fok was a disappointment for Special ID, they could call the Wilson Yip, who was better in SPL and Flashpoint, the fight between Donnie and Andy and I enjoyed a bit of effort, but where the choreography of the hand? used more Jiu-Jitsu and Wrestling (apparently do not know) I was expecting the movie to be better than the SPL and Flashpoint, but I was disappointed, the characters themselves are interesting, but it was the best fight of Gangsters, choreography not was very good as was the part of Donnie vs Andy. I hope they launch the Special ID 2. I'll be Waiting