Special ID

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AKA: Special Identity

Year of release: 2013

Genre: action

Director: Clarence Fok

Action directors: Donnie Yen, Bruce Law

Producers: Peter Pau, Han Xiao-Li, Donnie Yen

Writer: Szeto Kam-Yuen

Cinematography: Peter Pau

Editing: Cheung Ka-Fai

Music: Dou Peng

Stars: Donnie Yen, Andy On, Jing Tian, Zhan Han-Yu, Terence Yin, Ngai Sing, Pau Hei-Ching, Frankie Ng, Ronald Cheng, Ken Lo

Rated IIB for violence and language

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Special ID  Special ID

After taking over Hong Kong filmdom's kung fu/action world by portraying historical characters such as Ip Man, Donnie Yen returns to the modern jiang hu (martial arts brotherhood) cosmos with Special ID, a picture that dispenses what one might think is the required amount of knee strikes to the head, or even, in fact, being quite overly generous with the said quotient of blunt joint force trauma to ocular sockets. However, to some viewers out there expecting something in the vein of Flash Point or SPL, the level of said excitement might be tweaked somewhat by Donnie cracking his usual stone face and showing a softer, more comedic, side.

Special ID starts out in a cracking fashion, with Donnie, as a triad named Zi Long, getting into a brawl with some rival gang members. This sequence includes an extended fight with Ken Lo and sets the pace nicely, bringing some hard-hitting MMA-flavored fisticuffs. After Zi Long dusts himself off, we learn that he is actually an undercover cop, and his handler (Ronald Cheng) wants to send him to the Mainland to investigate a rising gang leader, Sunny (Andy On). Coincidentally, Zi Long's triad boss, Xiong (Ngai Sing, aka Collin Chou), wants him to check out Sunny as well, as he is suspected of killing off several other gangsters to move up the ladder quicker.

It's after the initial setup that Special ID falters a bit, as there is a good amount of time spent on comedic flavored exposition, and also a subplot involving Zi Long's relationship with a feisty female Mainland police officer, Fang (Jing Tian). There is nothing egregiously wrong going on here; the comedy thankfully veers away from the too-silly slapstick many releases in this genre fall into, and it is actually nice to see Donnie not acting grouchy for once. Also, there is a refreshing lack of pro-Mainland propaganda -- at least for the most part. Of course, the main villain is still a Hong Konger who is corrupting the poor Mainlanders. Overall, though, it's more that the second act doesn't have the momentum of the first, and the slower pacing may put off some viewers who are looking for wall-to-wall action.

But the third acts kicks back into high gear, resulting in a finale that will satisfy action junkies. Beginning with a great car chase sequence helmed by Bruce Law that, like most of his work, is wonderfully free of the gimmicky CGI that mars far too many modern releases, and culminating with an all-out brawl between Zi Long and Sunny that very nearly rises to the level of the truly great on-screen fights, the final twenty minutes or so of Special ID is great fun all the way, serving as a reminder to fans as to why they love these types of movies so much.

RATING: 7.5