The audience becomes conditioned to expect the action a few moves before the film makes them, which quickly renders the story tedious.
Special ID(特殊身份)
China · 2013
Rated R · 1h 38m
Director Clarence Yiu-leung Fok
Starring Donnie Yen, Jing Tian, Andy On, Ronald Cheng
Genre Drama, Action, Crime
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A cop and his team of comrades go undercover in one of China's most ruthless underworld organizations to stop a gang leader, only to put themselves in great danger after being exposed one by one.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
RogerEbert.com by Brian Tallerico
And yet it's impossible to deny that what Special ID does well it does extremely well.
The New York Times by Jeannette Catsoulis
Maddeningly muddled and frustratingly counterintuitive... the story shuttles between Hong Kong and mainland China without a noticeable gain in logic or reduction in decibels.
Los Angeles Times by Martin Tsai
The lens work by "Crouching Tiger" cinematographer Peter Pau looks super slick; and the film's conformity to trends in regional commercial cinema yields respectable results. But Special ID truly comes alive when it busts out the good ol' fashioned Hong Kong daredevil stunt work.
The story is a hopeless mess that from the outset seems to be missing key exposition that might help fill in some of its many gaps.
Village Voice by Zachary Wigon
All the performers are supremely entertaining while dealing or defying horrible deaths... but Yen unfortunately lacks the kind of charisma that can elevate a genre film to a higher level of satisfaction.
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