Special ID (4½ Stars)

I know Donnie Yen best for his pure martial arts roles, such as the Ip Man films. In China he's better known for his roles as a tough policeman. Some of his films have been released in English, but most haven't. I assume (or at least hope) that the best of his films have been selected for English release. "Special ID" is certainly a very good film.

When I say that a film has been "released in English" I mean either with English subtitles or dubbed into English. Usually I prefer subtitles, because English dubbing is amateurish compared to German dubbing. Today I watched "Special ID" with subtitles, but the next time I watch it I'll watch the dubbed version. This is a film that isn't suitable for subtitles. The pictures move fast and there's a lot of talking, especially in the first 20 minutes. If I read everything I miss part of what's happening. A film with a similar problem is "Run Lola Run". There's a lot of very fast dialogue in parts of the film, especially when Manni speaks. The subtitle texts flash on and off too fast to read them. I'm glad I'm able to understand the original German dialogue.

Donnie Yen plays Chen Zilong, a policeman who has been assigned to infiltrate a Hong Kong gang as an undercover cop. He's been undercover for six years, and he's had enough. He doesn't think he's doing any good where he is, and he wants to become a normal uniform cop again. His bosses think differently. They think that he's doing an excellent job. It isn't just the occasional shreds of information that he feeds to the police. Within the gang he's won respect, and he teaches a code of honour, that the gang should avoid violence unless absolutely necessary. There's even talk that if he bides his time he could become the gang leader, a prospect that horrifies Chen.

In his early days in the gang Chen trained a young man called Sunny. In addition to his moral code he taught Sunny how to fight. Sunny was ambitious, impatient to get to the top and unwilling to follow orders for the next 20 years. He went to the USA, where he gained a fearsome reputation as a ruthless gangster. Three years later he returned to China, to Nanhai on the Chinese mainland. He soon formed his own gang. After a business deal went wrong Chen's gang boss asked him to go to Nanhai to speak to Sunny, to assess if he could be trusted. Chen's police bosses also spoke with him about Sunny, telling him that Sunny needed to be taken down. Chen still feels loyalty to his old friend and doesn't promise anything.

Nanhai is outside of the jurisdiction of the Hong Kong police force, so Chen is transferred to the Nanhai police. His new contact with the police force is Detective Fang Jing, played by Jing Tian, one of my favourite Chinese actresses. Instead of standing idly in the background, as she did in "Kong: Skull Island", she proves that she has the talent to play action roles. She's not just a pretty face. She can kick hard and shoot fast.

She still has a soft side. She has a girly coffee cup that she carries with her at all times.

Donnie can't help but fall for her, even if he doesn't want to admit it. As all women know, when a man sits and talks absolute rubbish it's because he's too embarrassed to say what he really feels. The amused look on her face when she looks at him says it all.

Excellent police work! Jing Tian knows that the best way to arrest a criminal is to follow him into the toilet. He can't fire a gun while his hand is full. In this case, Changmaoxiong does try to resist arrest, but he regrets it. The dangly bits are an easy target when they fight.

One of the film's highlights is a thrilling six-minute car chase. Chen pursues Sunny through the streets of Nanhai while Jing Tian is clinging to the roof. (I prefer to use her real name). This is one of the scenes she will always be remembered for.

In case you can't read minds, I'll let you know what Donnie Yen is thinking:

"That's it! I'm never going to film a car chase ever again, however much they pay me!"

Do any of my friends know how to play Mahjong? Here we see Donnie Yen winning a game by scoring 13 orphans, evidently a very good score. And I thought Poker was difficult!

Donnie Yen is a marvellous actor and an amazing martial artist. Comparing him with Jet Li, Jet is probably a better fighter, but Donnie has better acting abilities.

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