Detective Dee And The Mystery Of The Phantom Flame, Review: (2010)

Around the turn of the last decade, it seemed a lot of Hong Kong’s most popular directors of the 1980s và early 1990s were making comebacks. John Woo returned from a lengthy period directing in Hollywood lớn helm the magnificent two-part Red Cliff.

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Ringo Lam rebounded from a fallow period with such hits as Fire of Conscience and The Stool Pigeon. Finally Tsui Hark, who directed và produced some of Hong Kong’s most outstanding and popular hits – including Once Upon a Time in China & Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain – returned to form with the bright, energetic & engaging mystery adventure Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame.

The coronation of China’s first Empress is fast approaching. Lớn commemorate her ascension, the Empress (Carina Lau) has commissioned an enormous statue of Buddha to lớn be constructed in front of the royal palace. Construction is proceeding according lớn plan when two leading imperial dignitaries inexplicably burst into flames and die. Khổng lồ solve the mystery of the ‘phantom flame’, the Empress summons Di Renjie (Andy Lau), a talented detective whosepolitical opinions have seen him imprisoned by the Empress for the past eight years.

Detective Dee is a delight: it is fast-paced, intriguing and well-performed. In many ways it is an active throwback to lớn the sorts of action-adventure films Hong Kong became famous for in the 1980s và 1990s. Scenes of plot development và broadly-sketched character are regularly interspersed with frantic sequences of acrobatic kung fu. Of course as a production of the 2010s Detective Dee is blessed with extensive digital effects và backgrounds, giving the picture the sort of rich, expansive backdrop that earlier productions could not afford.

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Andy lau makes for a thoughtful & dignified lead. In many respects Detective Dee is similar lớn Guy Ritchie’s American film Sherlock Holmes, in which the famous literary detective was re-envisaged và re-shaped to accommodate the tastes và aesthetic of contemporary cinema. The same process has occurred here, transforming the very real 7th century detective và statesman Di Renjie into an early period forensic specialist & master martial artists.

Lau is supported by an excellent supporting cast. Carina vệ sinh is masterful as the middle-aged, scheming Empress, and it’s a pleasure lớn see her on-screen again after a four-year break from performing. Fan Bingbing plays Shangguan Jing’er, the Empress’ closest confidante và skilled combatist. It is a role that gets more nuanced & complex as the film goes on, and fan does a great job with the part. Tony Leung Ka-fai and Deng Chao also give strong supporting performances.

Combining action, suspense & mystery with action, visual spectacle và extensive visual effects, Detective Dee is very much the Chinese equivalent of the American summer blockbuster. It is a testament lớn the strong talents of the Chinese film industry that, on a budget of roughly USD$20 million, Tsui Hark and his crew present an action-adventure that stands head and shoulders above most of Hollywood’s blockbusters over the same period. Twice the movie at one-tenth of the budget, Detective Dee is popular Chinese entertainment at its finest.