Detective Dee y el misterio de la llama fantasma

Tsui Hark has done quite a few wrongs in recent years- think "Missing" and "The Legend of Zu"- but thankfully "Detective Dee" is not one of them. In fact, it is that one right which proves Tsui Hark isn't a has- been, a not-too unreasonable conclusion to draw considering the quality of his recent works. An engrossing historical whodunit in the vein of Guy Ritchie's "Sherlock Holmes", Tsui Hark's latest big-budget blockbuster is significant not only because it restores his status as one of the premier Hong Kong film directors, but also because it is game-changing entertainment for the Chinese film industry.

For far too long, the expensive Chinese historical epics have revelled in telling tales of war and sacrifice set amidst warring states or feuding emperors jostling for power. Not to say that they aren't any good- John Woo's "Red Cliff" and Peter Chan's "The Warlords" among some of the best- but their similarities were apparent, and with that came a distinct sense of staleness especially of late. Tsui Hark's entry into this genre however brings a welcome breeze of freshness, deftly combining the elements of an Agatha Christie novel with the aesthetics of a period epic.

The mystery to solve is the spontaneous combustion of two high-ranking court officials when exposed to sunlight, these 'murders' taking place in the wake of the coronation of China's first empress in 690 AD. Most have attributed their deaths to superstitious reasons, but our titular hero Detective Dee thinks otherwise. Released from prison by the very empress Wu Zetian (Carina Lau) whose ascendancy he opposed eight years ago, Detective Dee searches instead for rational explanations, believing in science and reason than black magic.

Though based on a real-life Tang Dynasty court official, Andy Lau's Detective Dee is more akin to the investigator made popular by a series of novels by Dutch diplomat Robert Van Gulik. Here, he has two uneasy allies- the empress' most trusted servant Jing'er (Li Bingbing) sent to keep an eye on him, as well as albino Supreme Cop officer Pei Donglei (Deng Chao)- both of whom he trusts little of. But that's all right since he can pretty much fight for himself, as evidenced in the numerous action sequences directed by "Ip Man's" Sammo Hung.

In the spirit of the best mystery thrillers, the real fun comes from trying to piece together the parts of the puzzle before the final reveal. Scripter Zheng Jialu doesn't make it easy, throwing plenty of red herrings this way and that to distract you from guessing the villain. There is divine intervention in the form of a talking deer, facial transfiguration that basically allows one person to assume two personas and exotic creatures such as the fire turtle. Yet Zheng's firm determination to keep the story grounded in reality prevents the film from descending into camp.

That same restraint is displayed admirably and wisely by Tsui Hark himself. Sure, there are still his familiar signs of excess- the massive Buddha bronze statue built for the occasion of the coronation; the peculiar characters Detective Dee encounters in an underground city; and even the empress' elaborate coiffure- but these visual touches add colour and sparkle to the fantasy world Tsui has dreamt up for his period mystery without diverting from the intrigue and suspense of the film. Tsui's flourishes are also brought gorgeously to life by rich production design and masterful art direction, matched occasionally by lavish costume design whenever the Empress appears on screen.

Sammo's action direction too deserves praise. While the action scenes do not rise to the same great heights as "Ip Man", he makes the best out of his main cast of Andy Lau, Li Bingbing, Deng Chao and Tony Leung Kar- Fai. The wire-ful choreography is thrilling enough to set your pulse racing, and two particular action sequences stand out- one set in the underground city between Dee and the Imperial Chaplain and his possum of masked assassins; and the other set in the towering Buddha statue where Dee finally unravels the nefarious plot in a thrilling climax.

As the lead character, Andy Lau brings plenty of charisma to the role of Detective Dee. Though the frenzied pace leaves little time for any character development, Andy nails down the titular character with the right amount of wit, intelligence and virtue. When you're not too distracted by what Tsui has placed on her head, Carina Lau will also impress you with her Machiavellian performance as the Empress. On a side note, cinephiles will also cheer the return of Teddy Robin- albeit in a small supporting role- after a long hiatus (preceded actually by last year's Gallants which sadly skipped local cinemas altogether).

With a generous dose of mystery, action spectacle and some classic palace intrigue sprinkled with some wit, Tsui Hark's "Detective Dee" is sure-fire epic entertainment that rivals Hollywood's "Sherlock Holmes". Indeed, if you've enjoyed the former, you're likely to feel likewise for the latter. It is a definite shot in the arm for the period historical epic that China has done to death over the past few years, and for Tsui Hark's floundering fortunes in the past few years. Possibilities for "Detective Dee" as a franchise are bright, and this may likely be Tsui's next big franchise a la "Aces Go Places" and "Once Upon A Time in China"

Eight years ago, Detective Dee (Andy Lau) and compatriot Shatuo (Tony Leung Ka-fai), among others, opposed the queen regent (Carina Lau) in her bid to become the first female Emperor of China; for their treason, Detective Dee was imprisoned and Shatuo lost a hand. Now it is eight years later and the regent is poised to fully become the Emperor, but her coronation is imperiled by mysterious deaths that occur inside the 66-storey high statue of Buddha that is being constructed in honour of the coronation. Not one, but two functionaries seemingly spontaneously combust, and there seems to be no explanation for this. After consulting the Chaplain (in the person of a deer), the Emperor-to-be decides to free Detective Dee to solve this crime before her coronation; not to be naive, she also assigns Shanguan Jing'er (Bingbing Li), her favourite female warrior, and Pei Donglai (Chao Deng), an albino warrior, to shadow and help Detective Dee, perhaps to his own peril. Meanwhile, Shatuo has become the architect and supervisor of the building of the Buddha, and only he knows the secret of the fire turtles....

There's a bit of everything in "Detective Dee," including mystery, romance, fighting, martial arts, intrigue and, perhaps, a touch or more of the supernatural. To be honest, it doesn't bear serious scrutiny in terms of logic or loopholes, but that's not why one watches a film like this anyway – this is the kind of movie where the audience should just go along for the ride. And a wild ride it is too. I'm still not entirely certain what happened in the end, but it hardly matters; it was enough just to watch the various goings-on and admire the scenery and the fighting.

This is a visually sumptuous and stunning-looking film by Tsui Hark who has directed or produced some of the classic Hong action films of the last 25 years. The Hark films I've seen, which often have great fight sequences, are hit and miss in terms of the cohesiveness of the stories, though when they work the films can be fabulous (Peking Opera Blues, the Once Upon A Time In China, series, etc.)

This period film has an interesting mystery at its heart with lots of red herrings and twists. The story follows Detective Dee as he's brought out of his political imprisonment to investigate a series of murders during the lead-up to the coronation of the first female Emperor. There some plot inconsistencies and problems, but they're small. The lead actors are all very good, including Andy Lau, Bingbing Li, Carina Lau, and Chao Deng. All in all, it's a compelling film not overloaded with action-for-the-sake-of-action that looks at an interesting period in China's history.

It had been a while since I had seen a Tsui Hark movie. I now feel remiss in not better keeping up with his career.

Detective Dee is fantastic! The visuals are stunning. The sweeping, epic scenery and the HUGE set pieces transported me fully into the era of the Tang Dynasty. I was impressed by the CGI, often having trouble distinguishing where the real, physical parts of the set ended and the computer generated world began. The cinematography is superb.

The story was complex but still digestible. The filmmakers threw up enough red herrings to keep me guessing while making it believable that Detective Dee could solve the case without huge leaps in logic.

I found Andy Lau's performance effective, but was particularly impressed by Carina Lau who played Empress Wu. Her performance was both subtle and powerful. She was mesmerizing anytime she was on screen.

As for the fight scenes, well... wow. I mean, really, WOW! The complexity of the final fight between Dee and the person he figures out committed the crime made fight scenes in the Bourne series look like child's play. Seriously. Now, there was wire work - I know some people really dislike that stuff in Kung Fu style movies, but it really worked in this setting. I hope people will give this one a chance. I really thought Detective Dee was fantastic!

Di Renjie zhi tongtian diguo or Detective Dee and the mystery of the phantom flame is a Chinese fantasy movie that takes place during the Zhou Dynasty when the first and only Chinese empress Wu Zetian started her reign. The cold, cruel and somewhat megalomaniac woman that wants to rule on her own accord and who killed several potential enemies in the past is now menaced days before her crowning. After the mysterious death of two people during the construction of a giant Buddha statue in front of the emperor's residence, she asks the Chaplain, a sort of state preceptor who speaks through a magical deer, for help. He gives her the advice to recruit the banned Detective Dee who had openly accused the empress for having possibly killed her late husband and who was one of the leading persons in a growing revolution eight years ago. Even before Detective Dee can be contacted, a group of assassins tries to kill him and another prisoner but they ultimately fail. Intrigued by the strange murders and the will to make peace with his past, Detective Dee soon discovers that black magic seems to be the cause of the deaths. Accompanied by the empress' charming but mysterious attendant and an albinistic officer in the penal system, Detective Dee has to put the pieces of the puzzle together before the crowning of the empress takes place and soon discovers a well organized conspiracy with the goal to kill the empress.

This movie has a historic background that is though not developed in a profound way. The film rather focuses on fantastic elements around black magic, a few mild suspension moments and a couple of artistic action choreographies done by some of the best experts of several outstanding Hongkong action movies of the late eighties and early nineties. This film though wastes a little bit of potential on here as it turns out to be too diversified to truly convince in any of the genres it touches and as it lacks of a few more developed cultural and historical bits and pieces that would make the final result more authentic.

Apart of the action choreographies, a true highlight are definitely the buildings, costumes and masquerades in the movie that were created in a very precise and professional way as it often happens to be in contemporary Chinese movies. On the other side, the special effects are less impressive and often to artificially flavoured so that they destroy the movie's certain kind of magic a few times. That's where Hollywood is still slightly ahead of modern Asian cinema.

While the story of this movie definitely has a few good points and a couple of small twists as well, there are still some negative factors. One never really gets to know why the two persons in the beginning of the movie really had to die instead of killing the empress in an unexpected way during her crowning. The movie also has a few anachronisms such as way too modern ships in the harbour and the diplomat in the beginning of the film whose identity and role remains strangely unresolved. These flaws are pardonable if you take this movie as a fictional film only.

In the end, you get an entertaining fantasy movie with a solidly suspenseful story, well done choreographies and stunning costumes. The movie though has no truly innovating elements, surprising moments or touching scenes. It has without a doubt a certain kind of magic after all but it is sometimes too professionally done to touch the people. This movie is rather ordinary in comparison to what the gifted director Tsui Hark has done in the past but it's still one of the more entertaining Asian movies from 2010. After all, I guess I would only recommend this film to long time fans of Asian cinema as well as of stunning costumes and artistic choreographies. I would go for a loan instead of an immediate purchase as the film is surely entertaining but nothing outstanding enough to be a worthy addition to a film collection of an Asian cinema maniac.