Monday, June 16, 2014

"Special ID" Review - Written by Abraham Phillips


Special ID (2013)

Starring: Donnie Yen, Jing Tian, Hanyu Zhang, Andy On, Colin Chou,

Plot: Donnie Yen is Detective Chen. The criminal underworld him as Dragon, a dangerous enforcer. When rivalries explode with the reappearance of an old enemy and a brutal murder, the Triads close ranks and unleash a series of executions with Chan at the top of the list. Undercover and under attack he has no choice but to rely on a new partner and his knowledge of the streets to get out alive. It's the only chance, he's got.

My Review and Thoughts:

Whoa boy here's a high-octane action, kick butt wonderment of amazing martial arts. How can you go wrong with a picture starring Donnie Yen, a true legend in the martial arts industry. A perfect martial artist, always stylized, glamorous, believable and a downright ass kicking good time when you watch his films. This is truly a must see film for any martial arts fan, specifically for those who like Jackie Chan and Jet Li.

Donnie is brutal and perfect as Detective Chen, but the detective has another side. The criminal underworld knows him as the enforcer and effective in what he does, a.k.a. The Dragon. You have ass kicking attacks, bullets flying, swords, fist, kicking action and so much more.

Great stunts, awesome edge of your seat fighting. A plus is watching the amazing wonderful people fight through stunning choreographing. Truly something to behold for the fan of martial arts movies. I enjoyed all the ass kicking. I really enjoyed the explosions, the overall appeal to Donnie's character and also the persona and plot of the film.

This is pure violence of a martial arts nature that makes the viewer enthralled, wanting more and most of all it makes you perfectly pleased with the outcome.

On the Blu-ray you get some special features, the making of the film. English-language. French and Spanish subtitles and also the trailer.

No matter how old Donnie Yen gets, no matter how many movies I see him in, he kicks butt, takes names and then erases those names from existence. He is a martial arts god and a true action film master.

Andy On is something to behold. What a gifted performer. A true eye widening and excellent artist of pure action adrenaline. What is shocking is he didn't know martial arts when he started acting in 2000, he only started training for the films and back in 2000 he had no knowledge of the skills of martial arts. The talent of acting and further his skill through martial arts is amazing. He plays a real criminal bad ass style in this. His character of Sunny rocks.

So Dragon (Yen) is called into help bring down an old apprentice Sunny. Sunny has decided to take on and out other crime bosses. Going undercover to meet with Sunny ends up going wrong when a Sniper takes out one of Sunny's right hand men and all hell breaks loose. Dragon finds himself in total turf war and he has to continue to hide his policeman reality.

His new partner Fang Jing is played wonderfully by Tian Jing. She is great, adding a comical flare and the younger angry type character. She brings in more of the comical relief as both Dragon and her don't get along. They butt heads, they both want the same thing but she goes about it as a strict police officer and he goes about it as an undercover agent.

Like I say this is a great action film, a great film for lovers of martial arts. The plot has been done a 1000 times before and the originality of it does not exist. It's a basic story that can be found in just about any action film but with that said it stars some great martial artist and the choreographing and stunt work is something to behold for the viewer. The fights and action is what the movie creates so that the viewer is pleased.

I recommend it for fans of this genre. If you're not a fan of martial arts or Japanese action films then this will fall flat for you, but if you're a fan of this style which I am, then it's an enjoyable kick butt good time.

Reviewed by Abraham Phillips

Review Rating: 3.5 out of 5

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