Whether you are a fan of martial arts, or simply enjoy action films in general, Special ID is sure to entertain, with a story about family, honor, betrayal, vengeance and retribution.Donnie Yen portrays Chan, an undercover police officer who has partially forgotten how it is to be a cop, his fellow officers having great trouble controlling his actions. Though he may have difficulty reading the police officer's code of conduct, when it comes to reading a situation, Chan is unmatched, his adeptly beneficent capabilities allowing him to often remain a step ahead of his opposition.As always, Mr. Yen is wickedly entertaining, his unparalleled skill, breathtaking confidence and entertaining charisma allowing him to uniquely command the screen with physical precision and credible skill. The jaw dropping, awe inspiring fight scenes are as captivating as they are brilliant, the use of sound really heightening the violence sustained during the confrontations. Not only this, the camera-work is as equally amazing at capturing the moment, not to mention the richness of the metropolitan environments the film is set in.When a crime boss is violently killed, Chan is tasked not only by the underworld gang he is associated with, but by the police, to investigate Sunny (Andy On), a former brother in arms suspected of complicity in the murder. To assist in his endeavors, the police pair Chan with Jing, portrayed by the incredibly ravishing and unfathomably gorgeous Tian Jing, the use of occasional humor, coupled with the reliable character chemistry delivering a fistful of fun.As fellow members of the underworld begin to grow suspicious of Chan, his thoughts begin to dwell towards the safety of his mother, Amy (Hee Ching Paw). Wanting to escape the criminal world and return to the life of an officer, Chan needs to solve this one last case, where every move he makes, could unfortunately be his last.Story-wise, Special ID may not be uniquely imaginative, though it makes up for this with its characterization, alongside the use of tension and suspense. Although the first half of the feature is excellent, somewhere between this segment and the film's final quarter, the movie seems to lose pace, the daring fight scenes becoming more infrequent.The concluding battle will certainly remind viewers of Flashpoint, and the inclusion of a fantastically choreographed car scene will inevitably dazzle the senses. Moreover, Ms. Jing's capability to perform her own stunts stress her proficiency and flexibility. This aside, her character deserved more screen time, although I may be quick to argue this idea because by the end of the feature, I needed a towel to wipe the drool off my chin.Regardless of whether you appreciate superb fight sequences, brilliant stunts, entertaining gun fights, police drama, or ogling beautiful Chinese women, Special ID will satisfy any action movie enthusiast's appetite.

Upon its release, Special ID got slammed by critics and fans for many reasons!It seems that with Donnie, who is arguably the hardest working man in Asia at the moment, that his latest few years of film work has been very hit and miss for most. Not myself. I take each film for what it is...But you have the new fans, who have joined the band waggon since Ip Man came out, and you have us regular fans who have been watching Donnie for 30 years now. The new fans just want more Ip Man. Most people, like myself, respect what is delivered!Donnie's film roles overlap many historic moments up to playing the ass kicking modern day cop, without falling in to the stereotype that most stars have. So with Special ID, it was refreshing to see a little humour and a lot more smiling from him.I love director Clarence Fok's films. He is corny and off the wall, and does many wild things with his stars. In Special ID, he does not disappoint!Yes its not perfect, but here we have an action packed, ass kicking return to the late 80's/early 90's of Hong Kong cinemas golden age, and it does the job nicely.Special ID is worth the watch. And not just once!

I'm always surprise that Donnie Yeh has not exploded onto America like Jackie Chan or Jet Li. I saw a biography on the man and learned that he spent a lot of his childhood in the states and as such speaks better English than the average Chinese action star who basically just learned how to read lines in English. Kind of Ironic, and added to the fact that The Don is more attractive than his peers you would think Hollywood would be knocking on his door, Or maybe they are and Donnie chooses to stay away from the headaches the ones that came before him had to go through.Special ID shows the kind of hands-on film making Donnie gets to do in his native land. The action sequences are long and energetic like I would expect from a Kung Fu flick, and never let down. What I love best is the martial arts sequences are very contemporary with what's going on today. The Don does the traditional high speed flying kicks that are trade mark in Kung Fu, but I noticed that Donnie is using the rapid punches that remind me of his role as Ip Man. I also notice that mixed martial arts seems to have influenced the fights in this movie with a lot of low to the floor fighting which actually made the conflicts realer for me. Outside the fight choreography, there was also an awesome chase scene as well.Donnie plays a police officer who wants to take down China's most ruthless crime syndicate. In order to do this he has to go deep undercover, but when the mob boss suspects a traitor in his ranks, Don as "Dragon" Chan, is in trouble of getting his cover blown and his life ended, which puts him in conflict with his duty as a police official. His best ally is Fang Jing, an officer who puts herself on the line and in the action. I love noting more than to see a woman who is more than just eye candy to the action hero (but she does do eye candy very well).Another highlight for me is one of The Antagonist's henchmen Sunny played by Andy Oh. He spoke a lot of English in the film for reasons I did not fully get, but this may have help with me relating to the character, as I did not have to read what he was saying, but the fight scene between he and The Don was brilliant.Once again the Don delivers a worth wild Action flick, to add on to the many reasons why Hollywood does a disservice to itself sleeping on his skills, but it's probably for the best as an American made Special ID just would not be the same.

Note: Check me out as the "Asian Movie Enthusiast" on YouTube, where I review tons of Asian movies.You really have to wonder how a film like "Special ID" (2013) gets an average IMDb rating of 5.3 out of 10 while something like "The Hobbit" (2012) gets an 8.0. People have truly lost their sense of priorities while watching action films. Read some reviews of "Special ID" and you'll see all kinds of petty criticisms, from language dialects to overly decorated restaurants! Here's a newsflash for you. For an action film to satisfy, it needs a minimum of two things: good action and brisk pacing. Guess what. "Special ID" easily meets this standard and in fact surpasses it with some truly memorable action sequences. Sure, the script is boilerplate and basic (even a bit clumsy in spots), but that doesn't automatically tank the enjoyability of a film that focuses first and foremost on the action anyways.A cop (Donnie Yen) and his team of comrades go undercover in one of China's most ruthless underworld organizations to stop a gang leader. Andy On plays a good villain, while Tian Jing is a likable female lead. The action in this film is spaced out nicely, which assists the pacing quite well. The fight choreography is less "showy", opting to reflect a realistic, scrappy form of fist-fighting with some mixed martial arts peppered in. The finale lasts a whopping 15 minutes and showcases a suspenseful car chase. This actioner definitely satisfies.The director here is Clarence Fok, who has a hit or miss filmography but has given us some fun movies in the past – "The Iceman Cometh" (1989) and "Black Panther Warriors" (1994) being two fairly brainless crowd-pleasers that stand out. He has also contributed some truly riveting dramas. For example, his crime drama "Century of the Dragon" (1999) is one of the best triad films of the past 15 years. Overall, the direction in "Special ID" is solid during the action, with some very cool sweeping shots during the lengthy car chase.Unfortunately, Clarence should have vetoed some of the scoring choices in "Special ID" because the background music got intrusive at times. The sound design of this film feels amateurish and cheap early on, but get better as it progresses. This shouldn't be too much of a problem for fans of old school Hong Kong action flicks from the 80s and 90s, which many times had consistently poor production values but nevertheless succeeded at providing pure entertainment value. At the very least, "Special ID" looks nice while it gives the viewers its fist-to-face goodies.