When Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame first hit theaters, all I knew about the movie was the quote that was plastered across every advertisement, movie poster, or trailer I saw for the film. “Sherlock Holmes meets Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.” Now, movie nuts like myself cannot resist a description like that, and when I watched the trailer and saw Andy Lau kick a deer in the face, I knew I needed to see this movie. Perhaps it is the result of heightened expectations, but for me, Detective Dee was a let down.
Detective Dee opens on Empress Wu (Carina Lau) planning her inauguration ceremonies. As China's first female leader, her inauguration is already controversial, and some people are calling for an uprising against her. She worries that her life might be in danger when several high officials turn up dead, seemingly through magical means, and she calls up Detective Dee (Andy Lau), the one man she knows is brilliant enough to solve the case but powerful enough to bring her down. Empress Wu sends her most trusted adviser Shangguan Jing'er (Bingbing Li) to get him out of prison and make sure he doesn't join up with his old friends who are plotting to overthrow the empress.
Comparing Detective Dee to Sherlock Holmes and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon is kind of understandable. The protagonist is supposedly the greatest detective of his day, and there are impressive fight sequences. For me, the most memorable parts of the movie were the opening and closing fight sequences, not to mention the aforementioned magical deer-kicking scene. Unfortunately, Detective Dee wasn't smart enough to be Sherlock Holmes, and it never even comes close to touching the emotional depths of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Fans of detective stories will be frustrated by the genre-mixing here because too many mysteries are explained away with magic. The shape-shifter reveal was especially disappointing, a product of lazy writing and weak storytelling.
Many people reading this review, however, will not care about the plot. They will want to know if the fight scenes are any good. Well, I will say that they are impressive. As the making-of featurette reminded me, director Hark Tsui (Once Upon a Time in China) and action director Sammo Hung Kam-Bo (Ip Man, Kung Fu Hustle) are legends in the industry, and they worked tirelessly making these fight scenes. They loved the project, and they believed so strongly that this movie would revolutionize filmmaking. There are definitely some awe-inspiring moments, and it is beautifully shot. A sequence in an underground cavern was very well-done. Despite having all these seasoned filmmakers and veteran fight choreographers, though, I was thrown off by the changing frame rate from shot to shot. The higher frame rate shots happen sporadically and stick out, and even though the action in these shots is still good, it took me out of the movie.
For myself, I also didn't feel as interested and vested in the fight sequences in Detective Dee as I have in other similar action movies, and I think that was due to the plot and performances in the movie. Take Bodyguards and Assassins as an example. Throughout Bodyguards and Assassins, the story clearly establishes these characters and their stake in the final epic fight throughout the city. Their goal is simple, keep Sun Wen alive, and I knew exactly what would happen if they failed. I was on the edge of my seat for the whole last part of Bodyguards and Assassins. During most of the fights in Detective Dee, I felt disconnected. It was unclear what would happen if they lost, probably due to the convoluted plot, so the fights were technically good but emotionally empty. There was only one character in Detective Dee that I really cared about, the government investigator Pei Donglai (Chao Deng), and he was a supporting character at best. For fans of Hark Tsui and Sammo Hung Kam-Bo's other work, I would recommend renting it if you really want to see the fights, but otherwise, there are better fight movies out to spend your time and money on.
SPECIAL FEATURES
The Blu-ray is packed with features including “The Making of Detective Dee,” “Weapons, Stunts and Action,” “Creating the Characters,” “The World of Dee,” a stills and poster gallery, and the film's international trailer.
"Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame" is on sale December 13, 2011 and is rated PG13. Directed by Hark Tsui. Written by Kuo-fu Chen, Jialu Zhang. Starring Andy Lau, Bingbing Li, Carina Lau, Chao Deng.
