Identidad especial: Un héroe regresa

Thought I'd give this movie a hand, a long-time IMDb user, creating an account just because I'm outraged at the bad press this movie is getting here!

After SPL and Flash Point, this movie fits right into its sub-genre, which Donnie Yen is pioneering and he is going to be known for the choreography work he is doing in these movies in years to come.

Some of the review to this movie are phenomenally unfair. People are considering Sha Po Lang as a benchmark, and while it had great fighting scenes, it was incredibly over-dark. Flashpoint starts with the development of MMA in fight scenes, and does a great job, although the final action scene was really long. This film has some of the best fight scenes seen in a long while and it really brings MMA to the screen in an exciting and new way. (The guy who says Yen is the only one who knows ground-work in the movie wasn't watching, it seems.)

Not only that, the colours and the settings are grand, the first scene in a Kowloon-looking gangster hangout is fantastic, and there is a great scene in a restaurant as well.

The action is visually beautiful and emotionally tense, a great job with that. Maybe the car chase scene is a bit long, there is some Chinese cheesiness with the conversations with the female character, but it brings the action forward and Andy On is a great bad guy. Maybe the storyline unfolds quickly and not all the elements are there, but the characterisation of Donnie Yen's character is new and interesting, though they play on old HK conventions.

In short, this is a GOOD action movie for people who like martial arts movies and cop movies. Yen is reviving the police dramas that Honk Kong hasn't been doing well for a few years now (Johnnie To and Dante Lam being the exceptions). It is great fun, with great shots and even its music is not bad!

Thank you Donnie, for making action movies that are fresh, new and cool!

bad casting, directing and worst of all, the careless decision by using the every actor's original voice. how could it possible that the mother's tone and accent is pure mandarin Chinese, a northern dialect accent, while the son speaking in cantonese accented Chinese? unless this so-called undercover son is adopted by a hongkongness foster parents and later reunited with his real mother, we could never get used to such big difference of accents between mother and son. and then, this guy's superior officer, my, is such a bad cast, who not in the least like a pencil pusher high ranking police office but an accounting clerk. then, the other two gang-bangers' stereo types are so lame and so formulaic, no big difference from their other roles in so many similar genre movies. i just wish donnie yen and all the cast in this movie speaking pure cantonese that at least the whole movie might look more convincing. but the stupid production people decided to cast a fragile Chinese doll to be the case officer from the mainland china and forced a awkward and embarrassing romance between the hongkongness undercover and her, their scenes just looked so contrite and unnatural. the mother role was also a cast of totally unnecessary. the dialog is also so stupid and contrite. this movie in general is a disaster from the very beginning to the end, simply ruined by a stupid screenplay, wrong cast, wrong accents, wrong arrangements almost every thing. to me, giving this movie 3 stars is already over-rated.

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.

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.

"Special ID" (or "Te Shu Shen Fen") is not your average Donnie Yen movie, where he takes on the entire world and lives to tell the tale. This is a more down to Earth kind of movie, with the right amount of action thrown into the mixture.

The story is about an undercover police man whose cover is on the line as he has to unravel a gang to expose the leader. But when his former friend and protégé shows up, things take an unforeseen turn.

I will say that the story itself was fairly mediocre, and there wasn't really anything out of the ordinary or anything that hadn't been seen before. But what made it work was the way that the characters were portrayed, as being fairly average people unable to take on a whole gang by themselves.

The fight scenes and action scenes were well choreographed and they had a very realistic feeling to them, whereas many Asian action movies tend to go an extra mile and throw a bit too much gasoline on the fire.

Donnie Yen seems fairly mellow and lenient in this movie, and it served him well, because it adds a good flavor to the movie, making it more realistic and enjoyable.

I am a big fan of Asian cinema, but "Special ID" hardly revolutionized the Asian action genre, nor did it push any boundaries. If you enjoy Donnie Yen's movies, then you should take the time to sit down and watch "Special ID".