Review of Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame (2010) by Joel M — 13 Dec 2010

Chinese always was famous by their Great Wall, but in this martial arts movie they are building a Towering Buddha, where two high-ranking court officials mysteriously died of spontaneous combustion after being exposed to sunlight.

Empress Wu, the first and only female emperor in Chinese history, decides to set free of prisoner Dee, who once an imperial court judge before sentenced for eight years in the jail following from his rebellion. Together with Pei Donglai and Wu's beloved protege, Shangguan Jing'er, they must race against time to nab the murderer as well as uncover the hidden agenda behind the possible rebellion against the crowning of the very first female emperor in China.

This epic Chinese period crime-thriller definetely took my attention from the first minutes. I like detectives but at the first time I was watching Chinese detective story and so well-made from one of the most famous asian directors Tsui Hark. He has increasingly lost his creative touch after martial arts movies of 90s Knock Off and Double Team with Jean Claude van Damme, he tried to make something worth watching with the best martial artists Donnie Yen in wuxia film Qi jian in 2005, but it didn't work. And finally in 2010 he made a true comeback and returns with Di Renjie, internationally known as Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame.

It was a funny episode with a talking Chaplain's Magic Deer, some kind of grown Bamby, from which Empress Wu takes advices.

Andy Lau looks like overgrown and dirty vargant but in few minutes became a charismatic titular hero, one of the most celebrated officials of the Tang Dynasty... more on budomate dot com.