It's good to talk about "Special Personality" under Russian chanson. Hong Kong is the same father-ataman, whom the Chinese commissioner took a checker, the ataman fell off his horse. Thieving shalaman, today the bratwa is going to spread to mahjong, the stake is the life of guilty henchmen of Chen Zelong. He's played by my favorite actor, Donnie Ian, and here he reaches the pinnacle of coolness. It is difficult to look at him calmly already from the first episode: there is such a stylish bandit in a T-shirt and jeans, from neck to toe in tattoos, a cigarette in the mouth, muscle-blown hands hold the dice, the tired look of a confident person is directed away.
Can a gambling game, in which the opponents are a positive bully Donnie and a crafty bonfire Ken Lo, end well? Of course not, and here they are already squabbling - they are just hanging out like martial arts-savvy street guys. Donnie tricks, does chaotic nonsense and surprises the enemy with unexpected decisions, and only win in a real boy fight. A bandit, a bandit... Anne, he cheated you! He's not a crook, he's a decent undercover cop. When his mission is complete, he will become an ordinary opera, mix all the tattoos and start playing by the rules.
Fitting under the mainland censorship, say the lover of Hong Kong old school. Yes, I will, and yet I believe Chen Zelong and his good intentions. Those who have served honestly in the organs or worked in private security will understand what this is about. Our infiltration agent has been sidelined since childhood by all these temptations of criminal life, he himself is from a thieves' environment, and his mother is clearly sympathetic, but he is tormented by something else - when you pursue evil, when you catch a bad guy and severely punish, and then you go into the sunset with sweet thoughts that you are not just smoking the sky, but doing something useful in this insane world. If I meet you, you're not on your way. . .
As a rule, the hero is much cooler than the faded villain, and sometimes the creators think that if they came up with a terrible villain, then they can score on the personality of the hero, make it an empty function, but in "Special Personality" old Donnie and Andy He are each other. At some point, the viewer may believe that Donnie is a real bandit, but then the demonic authority of Andy gets into one frame with him, and everything falls into place. A chic episode of their still friendly confrontation in the cafe, when young and dangerous Andy tries just in case to put the older comrade Donnie in his place, and he is still not put, and then the Kents go spontaneous sparring, in which, as you know, there is only a fraction of sparring. It's also a little bit of a baddy-movie, because a Hong Kong cop was planted with a beetroot nurse, Jing Tian. Her youthful maximalism and girlish stubbornness charmingly conflict with the free soul of Donnie. Good and Colin Chow, this is not a barber, rather the most that neither is a female barber and part-time boss of the triad, a cruel but very lazy person who loses power under the pressure of a new generation.
Should I say that the film is perfect? Every combat episode is a pearl, and could it have been different if John Salvitti and Kenji Tanigaki were shamanized over the staging of fights, and Bruce Lo was engaged in auto tricks? Donnie Ian and Andy are my favorite movie fight. Because there, the combat savvy of the characters is combined not only with the dramatic justification of mutual fury, but also with the real uncontrollable fuss, mistakes and misfires of fighters.
Hope breaking thread to the horizon to stretch and try to change ... something
9 out of 10
The other day I watched another action movie with D. Ian in the title role. And I thought he looked a lot like his other movie, 2007's Hot Spot. Not only that Donnie is the main character, and one of his opponents was K. Chow, and they play the same characters. And the fact that the sweetest action scene left for the final. And this fight scene in this film looks very cool, although slightly inferior to the one that was in the Hot Spot. But they're also similar. I don't know for sure, but I guess that's where Donnie was directing them. Maybe someone doesn’t like the fact that in this final match, the participants are lying too much in the road dust, trying to hold a pain grip, instead of kneading each other’s limbs, it was in the same Hot Spot and the first Stars of fate, but in much smaller quantities. But I did, because it's cool and not fake. Strikes are also applied coolly, effectively, powerfully, from the heart. Slow shooting is always in place, allows you to consider more details, better feel the impact and imagine how the characters hurt. Blood and violence are all right.
And for the sake of this wonderful fight, I had to watch for more than an hour for a not very interesting development, not very exciting plot and listen to not very entertaining dialogues. The plot is simple and clear, one-sided and linear, and the script has pumped up. Logic suffers at times. Sometimes I felt like I was watching a comedy. Characters are not particularly bright, except Ian, of course, with him the movie comes to life, begins to play with other colors. Actors, as soon as you need to show stronger emotions, overplay, and even I noticed this, although such things do not always notice.
But the first fight disappointed me, severe hard cutting did not work. I didn't expect Donnie to lie on the floor for so long and keep his opponent from approaching him. It seemed to me that this was not his style and looked kind of stupid, as if he was afraid of an opponent. I don’t think it was age, the figure was solid at the time, but I thought Chinese martial artists remained remarkably agile and fast for very long years. And Ian's not even retired yet. But maybe I don't know something. In general, there are still hand-to-hand fights in the film, but it would not hurt to add a couple more big fights instead of static scenes, he would only benefit from this. It would be more interesting to watch and I would give a higher rating.
I wonder how many more movies like this and Donnie's career hotspot are out there? I hope not. And yet this movie is not bad. I dare say I liked it. Of course, thanks to the final fight.
In the center of the plot is an undercover police officer performing his secret mission in one of the criminal groups.
The plot of this cool action movie is not new. But he's here as a small addition to the action. An action you can't take your eyes off. The star of hand-to-hand action Donnie Ian in his almost 50 easily demonstrates that he is still in the clip! Elegantly staged fights and sparring (set them by tradition, Ian himself), pain grips - everything is put at the highest level!
Donnie's rivals look no less dignified. The partner of the actor on "Hot spot" Collin Chow in the role of the head of the syndicate is good, but he, as in "Bodyguard" again, was not given much to turn around, except for a good, but painfully short, fight in the toilet. Zhang Hanyu (“Message”, “Capture of the Tiger Mountain”, “In the Name of Honor”) flashed in a small role of a killer. The main opponent of our hero is the cool and charismatic Andy He (“Unbreakable Target”, “Virus Factor”, “Cold War”), the final fight with which, as well as the chase with sparring inside the car, are filmed powerfully and spectacularly! For beauty and charm puffed charming Jing Tian (“Fist and Faith”, “Police Story 2013”, “From Vegas to Macau”, “Kong: Skull Island”, “Pacific Rim 2”, “Great Wall”).
Summing up: absolutely simple and brutal police action movie from a real martial arts maestro! Aerobatics!
The film of the magnificent, legendary and invincible Donnie Yen sampled 2013. He’s about 50 years old here, but he’s a little younger. The plot of the film lames from side to side, we can say that it is generally illogical and stilted, but Volvo cars are stable throughout the screen time. And the final battle of Volvo against the Land Rover is just great.
Donnie Yen belongs to the stars of Asian cinema of the second wave. The first is Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee. There are also heroes of the Hong Kong cinema of the third wave – for example, the actors of the film “Unbreakable Target”. But the third generation is not always the heroes of action movies, they are just cute guys and act in everything from dramas about homosexuals to romantic comedies.
But back to the movie. Remember the story, this is the finish! Solyanka team – there is love for the mother, and the relationship with the mafia, which knows everything about the main character, and the police, which boldly interferes in the showdowns of the mafia, despite the fact that the main character is kind of an undercover agent (I hope this is not a spoiler), and even a stupid-simple romantic line (all for Donnie is a star movie) – but in general, all this has little to do with the realism and truthfulness of the events described. That is, the actions and behavior of the characters are just an indigestible mixture of actions, subordinated to one more or less clear goal - to introduce a new Volvo model into the frame, which will beautifully roll along the roads of Hong Kong.
Of course, when the great Donnie Yen appears in the frame, the film immediately begins to gain momentum. He fights a little - this is explained by his age, but the final fight was not deprived of us. Again, in the first fight, it seemed to me that Donnie Yen was already fighting like a 50-year-old, it seems that his back hurts. The fight half lying down is of course resourceful, but still, it is rather an age. Donnie Yen and in the films I have seen before (fighters) did not dwell on fights. What is the final shootout in the movie “Hot Spot”? Here and here, in addition to fights, quite tolerable races, snipers, shootouts, etc. I remember the first and last fight, the middle somehow passed by.
Still, the final battle was left for gourmets, where Donnie Yen in his already unhurried style of fighting still crushes the main villain, and I thought at the races everything would end.
A bullet from a machine gun in the Chinese film industry
I was “lucky” to watch this “masterpiece” of Chinese-Hong Kong co-cinematography when it first appeared in Hong Kong in October. A friend dragged him to the movies because he certainly wanted to see a film in the style of the best films with Bruce Lee or with Jackie Chan, and the trailer for “Special ID” seemed exciting and promising.
Well, if that were true. The film is a complete disappointment. Not only insanely stupid and illogical, but also cruel. Moreover, this cruelty occurs in the film at all “out of court”. If this cruelty was manifested in the standard “face”, it would be possible to understand / forgive, but the beating of women somehow quite unpleasant to look at.
The plot is banal, but from such a movie no one expects exciting twists and unexpected ending. Actors can portray only two opposite spectrums of emotions: those inherent only to the impossible positive characters, or even disgusting villains with a rotten heart. There is no middle ground. Everything and everything is black and white.
In fact, it would be safe to close your eyes if there were these notorious scenes of exciting fights, fights and demonstrations of traditional Chinese types of struggle. Yes, they were in sufficient numbers, but they are by no means exciting, rather boring, unoriginal, illogical and unimpressive.
In general, the Special Personality is another stereotyped empty cinema of Chinese cinema, as from a machine gun releasing such “masterpieces”. I can't imagine who would like this picture, except for the Chinese audience it's designed for.