Review of Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame (2010) by Mahmood H — 23 Oct 2010

Tsui Hark's previous comeback films have all, for one reason or another, been rather trying movie experiences, but with Detective Dee, his most wildly entertaining effort in over a decade, the director finally hits the spot.

Detective Dee sees Hark returning to the old wuxia fantasy format, but this time with higher production values, no slapstick comedy and an arguably less complicated plot. While Chen Kuo-fu's screenplay hardly takes us from A to B without diversions, it keeps Hark's apparently vivid imagination subordinate to the original mystery plot.

As for depth, there's not a lot of course, with the exception of Carina Lau's somewhat underused empress-character, displaying some complexity seemingly asking to be interpreted in poltical and gender related terms.

But subtexts aside, Detective Dee is first and foremost a fun matinà (C)e adventure with one foot in Hong Kong traditional cinema, and the other one in Hollywood.