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Released by: Well Go USA
Released on: May 13th, 2013.
Director: Clarence Fok Yiu-leung
Cast: Donnie Yen, Andy On, Collin Chou, Zhang Hanyu, Tian Jing
Year: 2013
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The Movie:
Clarence Fok Yiu-leung's 2013 picture Special ID follows a man named Chan Chi-Lung (Donnie Yen) who has worked as an undercover cop trying to infiltrate a Hong Kong Triad organization run by Cheung Mo-Hung (Collin Chou) for some time now. Things get dicey when Mo-Hung and Chi-Lung come to a disagreement cover a negation that was to take place between his gang and a few other rival Triad groups and because of this, Mo-Hung starts to think Chi-Lung may not be who he first appeared to be.
After his mother is threatened and things start to get too dangerous, Chi-Lung talks to his supervisor about getting out of the undercover game but he's not let out and is instead transferred to mainland China in the hope that he can use his skills to get in good with a gang operating over there. It just so happens that the man who runs the gang, Sunny (Andy On), is an affiliate of Mo-Hung and that he knows Chi-Lung from their past work in a Hong Kong gang together. Chi-Lung winds up teaming up with a cop named Fang Jing (Tian Jing) to try to slyly take the gang out of commission so that he can get out of undercover ops for good, but his ties to Mo-Hung's operation might just come back to haunt him…
We've seen this story before and we've seen it done with more interest than it is handled with here, but if you're looking for some fairly undemanding action and excitement, Special ID will fit the bill. There's some great fight choreography on display throughout the film and the combat and action scenes are both impressive in their execution and come at us frequently enough to distract from the plot that's obviously been recycled from countless other 'undercover cop' movies.
The cast are fine here. Top billed Yen gets the most screen time and while his character's copious tattoos all look to be obviously fake and his wallet chain seems unnecessarily long for someone who gets in as many fights as he does, he handles himself well in front of the camera. This won't be the role Yen is known for in the history books but it affords him ample opportunity to beat the snot out of bad guys and he does this well. The relationship that we know will blossom with Tian Jing's character the moment we see here is completely unbelievable but the tiny actress is just about as cute as they come and she too has some pretty solid skills and moves to show off for the camera and in turn the audience. Collin Chou and Andy On make for decent villains, but their characters are all menace and no substance so it's hard to get too invested in any of this. The only truly sympathetic character in the movie is Yen's mom.
So yeah, go into this one for the hyper-stylized action scenes and super slick fight choreography and you won't be disappointed. If you're looking for much more than that, say, good characters or an original story, however, this one doesn't quite deliver what you'd hope.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Shot on high grade professional digital video cameras, the transfer on this AVC encoded 1080p high definition release frames the movie at 2.35.1 widescreen and it looks excellent. As you'd expect, there's no dirt or debris here (one of the benefits of a digital to digital transfer) and detail is generally outstanding. Colors are nicely reproduced and look quite natural most of the time even if they are a little on the bleak side in terms of style. Black levels are strong throughout and contrast is solid. Some of the CGI used in certain scenes looks kind of silly (the car chase scene across the bridge is a big one here) and are obviously computer generated but outside of that the image is strong. This is an excellent looking transfer from Well Go USA.
The Chinese language DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio mix is also very strong. There are some impressive moments of intense surround activity throughout this movie that really take advantage of the lossless mix. Depth is impressive and the score sounds quite nice. Dialogue stays clean and clear and there are no issues with any hiss or distortion. The fight scenes really benefit from the rear channels in this mix, with plenty of audible foley effects filling in the mix. Of course, during the more subdued moments in the movie, and there are a few, things settle down but the action scenes sound really good here. The disc also includes an English language DTS-HD 5.1 track and Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo tracks in both English and Chinese. Optional English subtitles are available.
The main extra on the disc is a Making Of Featurette that clocks in at a whole four minutes in length. As such, it's pretty quick and more of a promotional piece than an in-depth look behind the scenes. A trailer for the feature is also included as are trailers for a few other Well Go USA properties. Menus and chapter stops are also found on the disc and the Blu-ray case fits inside a slipcase featuring identical cover art.
The Final Word:
Special ID is fine as far as mindless entertainment goes. It's predictable and riddled with clichés but it moves at a good pace and features some impressive fight choreography and a few memorable characters. The Blu-ray from Well Go USA has a few minor extras but at least offers up the movie in a very nice transfer and with an impressive lossless surround mix. Not even close to Donnie Yen's best, but worth seeing for fans.
Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!
