It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Whether you are a fan of martial arts, or simply enjoy action films in general, Special ID is sure to entertain, with a story about family, honor, betrayal, vengeance and retribution.Donnie Yen portrays Chan, an undercover police officer who has partially forgotten how it is to be a cop, his fellow officers having great trouble controlling his actions. Though he may have difficulty reading the police officer's code of conduct, when it comes to reading a situation, Chan is unmatched, his adeptly beneficent capabilities allowing him to often remain a step ahead of his opposition.As always, Mr. Yen is wickedly entertaining, his unparalleled skill, breathtaking confidence and entertaining charisma allowing him to uniquely command the screen with physical precision and credible skill. The jaw dropping, awe inspiring fight scenes are as captivating as they are brilliant, the use of sound really heightening the violence sustained during the confrontations. Not only this, the camera-work is as equally amazing at capturing the moment, not to mention the richness of the metropolitan environments the film is set in.When a crime boss is violently killed, Chan is tasked not only by the underworld gang he is associated with, but by the police, to investigate Sunny (Andy On), a former brother in arms suspected of complicity in the murder. To assist in his endeavors, the police pair Chan with Jing, portrayed by the incredibly ravishing and unfathomably gorgeous Tian Jing, the use of occasional humor, coupled with the reliable character chemistry delivering a fistful of fun.As fellow members of the underworld begin to grow suspicious of Chan, his thoughts begin to dwell towards the safety of his mother, Amy (Hee Ching Paw). Wanting to escape the criminal world and return to the life of an officer, Chan needs to solve this one last case, where every move he makes, could unfortunately be his last.Story-wise, Special ID may not be uniquely imaginative, though it makes up for this with its characterization, alongside the use of tension and suspense. Although the first half of the feature is excellent, somewhere between this segment and the film's final quarter, the movie seems to lose pace, the daring fight scenes becoming more infrequent.The concluding battle will certainly remind viewers of Flashpoint, and the inclusion of a fantastically choreographed car scene will inevitably dazzle the senses. Moreover, Ms. Jing's capability to perform her own stunts stress her proficiency and flexibility. This aside, her character deserved more screen time, although I may be quick to argue this idea because by the end of the feature, I needed a towel to wipe the drool off my chin.Regardless of whether you appreciate superb fight sequences, brilliant stunts, entertaining gun fights, police drama, or ogling beautiful Chinese women, Special ID will satisfy any action movie enthusiast's appetite.

I am not really a big martial arts movie fan, but I enjoy watching a good one when I get the chance. "Special ID" is the only other Donnie Yen film I have seen after the phenomenal "Ip Man" and its lesser sequel. I was curious to watch Donnie fight in the modern setting. This film definitely confirms his excellence in martial arts choreography and execution -- from the quiet discipline of wuxia before to rough and rugged mixed martial arts this time.The story is common and predictable, Chan Chi-lung (Donnie Yen) is an undercover Hongkong cop who gets sent to China to help corner an up-and- coming crime boss, Sunny (Andy On), with whom he was close to in his previous assignment. There were no really big surprises or twists. But of course, we do not typically watch these types of films expecting a profound story, but it is mostly for the exhilarating action scenes. And in this aspect, I thought "Special ID" delivers big time.It was cool to see a different Donnie Yen as a brash and reckless cop, which was totally in contrast with his subdued character in "Ip Man." His range of fighting skills were all very elegant to watch in those incredibly and impossibly choreographed fight and car chase scenes. Be they in enclosed spaces or in wide-open areas, Donnie Yen is exhilarating to watch.Andy On plays a very convincing new debonair crime lord from the US. He figures in a very long climactic scenes of car chase with fighting, followed by an intense scene of bloody hand-to-hand combat. He was able to match the grace and flow of Yen's movements yet their scenes come across as gritty and realistic.As Yen's Chinese female police partner Fang Jing, pretty actress Tian Jing was made to mouth some pretty cheesy lines. But when it comes to her action scenes, her awkwardness disappears. She was unexpectedly awesome in her parkour scenes jumping and running across rooftops, and of course, her major fight scene set unbelievably inside the confines of a Land Rover! Reviews from many die-hard martial arts film fanatics have been harsh, calling this film a miss in Donnie Yen's filmography because of its sloppiness. However, for the casual viewer who only watches martial arts films occasionally, I do not see anything wrong with the action sequences I saw here in "Special ID". While they may miss the mark for bonafide MMA connoisseurs, for an ordinary guy like me, those action scenes and stunts were quite exciting and very entertaining. 6/10.

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.