lotsoflaughs

I gave this a 5 mostly for technique because that is the strongest point of the film. The film is an encyclopedic article as filmed by an art-house director- at least that was my impression. While the characters had legitimate, sympathetic motivations, and there were a couple of interesting discussions, there was no theme, no thrust, no spirit or spin. The ending is a fizzling out. Mads Mikkelsen, as always, can make anything seem profound, even though he only gets a line per twenty minutes of horse visuals- on the other hand, the horses were beautiful! Lol.

My rec: watch this if you really have time to waste, I've certainly seen worse, but don't believe the title, "age of uprising." That implies action. This is a quiet classic or art-house-style flick.

I didn't know what I was getting into- my fault. I have never been and never will be a fan of Jackie-Chan style martial arts films. I was viewing this after seeing darker, more complex films like Cold War, Overheard, Blind Detective, etc. Special ID is slap-in-the-face straightforward in comparison. Donnie Yen as a roughneck is a hard sell. I did like his storyline, trying to become a cop, and I loved Fang Jing's fight scenes -it's past time for a modern action heroine; give her a movie!- and most of the fight scenes. I noticed the MMA immediately. Well done. His relationship with his mom was really touching too. I always appreciate Andy On, and he did a great job as well. So not bad if you know what you're getting into, and you like that kind of thing. Just be aware this is a little more explicitly violent in places. Sometimes the director takes great pains to show punches connecting in a way that is not even visible in real life, considering the speed of a punch or kick. (I don't really like this slow-mo detail. It felt gratuitous.)

There is literally no point to this movie! It's just product placement after product placement. I am not exaggerating. There's no cohesive story that I can see other than there is a coveted painting, the script is laughable, amateur, and melodramatic and the characters are caricatures. I started to wonder if it was based off manga, and when a kid started laughing maniacally in front of a fire, I knew this movie was ****, and it's not a case of not understanding the movie because it's too deep either. It really is just about the aesthetics, and if this movie has any stars, that's why. This was really disappointing! Andy Lau, you've sunk low!