Donnie Yen fans, the wait for another Yen actioner is over because in a week Clarence Fok Yiu-leung’s Special ID is hitting theaters here in the states. In Special ID, Donnie Yen plays a long time undercover detective Chen Zilong but known in the criminal underworld by his enforcer name, “Dragon” Chen. When an old criminal “friend,” Sunny, and rival of his current “boss,” Changmaoixong, resurfaces in China after killing a Triad boss for valuable information, Zilong is sent to the mainland by both his Hong Kong police handler, who promises he can quit being undercover after this last assignment, and his criminal boss to find out what information Sunny has and to kill him (the latter being the criminal objective). Upon arrival he is partnered up with a by-the-books, no-nonsense female detective, Jing Fang (Tian Jing), and while the two butt heads in both comical and dramatic fashion, they both want to catch the crooks.
For a solid majority of Special ID the action scenes are pretty awesome and standard Yen action fare but more in line with his stunt work in S.P.L. There are a bunch of “everybody vs. Yen” scenes which allow us ample time to revel in how talented this guy really is. Hell, even Tian Jing does a great job holding her own alongside Yen, especially during a battle with Sunny (Andy On) inside a moving SUV. The only time I was annoyed was when the film went from outside the realm of realistic, specifically when you could tell wires were being used. This happened during a cool rooftop gun fight and chase but it was tainted when Fang Jing jumps off a roof about 20 feet down and manages to not get hurt. Let’s be real, there are very few skinny woman that could survive that fall and still manage to sprint after a culprit, even most men couldn’t even handle that.
While the movie itself isn’t all that special, the one thing I that I really loved was that you could see that Donnie Yen was having fun with the role. I had the opportunity to interview him awhile back and one of the things he likes to do most is modern action films because there are no rules or specific fighting styles you have to adhere to in a modern street brawl, giving him the flexibility to fight the way he wants. Also, the character is pretty rebellious despite his good intentions and you could see Yen is enjoying the hell out of being a cocky, thuggish smart-ass, a role he never plays. As a viewer it was really refreshing to see him in this type of role and if there was one reason to see this film it would be to watch Donnie Yen having fun while laying some solid beat downs on some punks.
What I found funny about the film, besides some of the corny dialogue, is that the name of the film is Special ID. The reason I say this is because when Chen Zilong is convinced to go to the mainland it would be under a Special ID so that nobody recognizes him, yet when he arrives everything is the same and the thugs know him by his street name and the cops, and new partner, know him by his actual name. Something was either lost in translation, I clearly missed something, or the screenwriter messed up big time, either way it’s not a good thing and why I laugh now when I see the title.
Overall, Special ID is a relatively lighthearted, though sometimes hardcore, crime actioner that manages to succeed in achieving this rare feat without much use of comedy. It is a pretty generic story and unfolds the way one might expect it to, except with the amazing bonus that (SOPILER) Chen and his partner don’t actually hook up at the end of the film (end spoiler). There are certainly laughable scenes, particularly when Donnie is horsing around, but the movie is mindless fun, chock full of plenty of cool action sequences, and a refreshing change of character pace for fans of Donnie Yen.
Rating: A generic action film but one that shows Donnie Yen having fun and playing against type (5.5/10)
Recent Comments