Alicia I love this movie so much

Cathardincu Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Jenna Walter The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Kimball Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

tenshi_ippikiookami "Detective Dee: The Mystery of the Phantom Flame" is an entertaining movie that couldn't be mistaken for anything else but what it is: a Hark Tsui's movie.Detective Dee, an all-charm Andy Lau, has been in prison for 8 years because he opposed the wife of the deceased Emperor and her growing power. But after some mysterious killings happen just before she is to become Regent Empress, he is called back to help.And little more. The plot is just empty air. You have some betrayals, some mysterious deaths, some investigation done by detective Dee, but really, the plot is little less than an excuse. There is almost zero detective work and little tension.What it lacks in plot or character development (it doesn't help that everyone is overacting, something typical on the other hand in this type of movies), it more than makes up for in flashy set ups, nice fights and colorful environments (even if the CGI work can be... well, lacking). Tsui Hark knows how to make everything look amazing and the atmosphere is just great, and all the set ups are really cool (as the underground city). It all looks so good that it ends up leaving the viewer with a feeling of a wasted opportunity. Tsui Hark doesn't care much for pace or plot, more about set ups, pieces and fights. The movie could have been much better if it was more balanced. As it is, it is an enjoyable time in front of the screen, but don't go expecting much more.

kluseba 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.

rigoletto339 The is the first Hark Tsui film I've seen (but not the first Chinese film). It's a great film - with a Harry Potter title.The mix of reality and fantasy is just right. The fight scenes are beautifully choreographed, and the special effects are visually stunning.(The story gives a plausible explanation for spontaneous human combustion.) Tony Leung gets first billing in the credits, but he's really the #2 (or #3) character in the story. Detective Dee is masterfully played by Andy Lau. All the actors and actresses give first-rate performances.The story is set around the real-life Empress Wu, just before she ascends the throne. (I have to wonder why anybody would want to be Empress - you have to wear those funny hats.) Despite the name, Carina Lau (Empress Wu) is married to Tony Leung.I hope someone who speaks Cantonese (or is it Mandarin?) can comment on the subtitles. "Chaplain", for instance, doesn't seem right.

EephusPitch To me, Zhang Yimou's HERO was a watershed moment: a masterful film, which features CGI. Since then, films in the "swordsman" genre, made by many of the masters of Hong Kong and Mainland cinema (Zhang, Chen Kaige, John Woo, and Tsui Hark) have increasingly, and detrimentally, relied on CGI. The ensuing films have been visually spectacular (HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS, CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER, THE PROMISE, RED CLIFF, THE PROMISE, and ZU WARRIORS, to name a few), but as films they were all somewhat lacking. It began to be my fervent wish that all of these estimable directors be given drastically reduced budgets and blue screens, and get back to the business of making great movies.DETECTIVE DEE etc has much going for it. Andy Lau Tak-Wah and Tony Leung Ka Fai are given able support from Li Bingbing, Carina Lau, and Chao Deng; Sammo Hung's fight choreography was stellar; the plot was convoluted; the anachronisms are what Giants' closer Brain Wilson would call "delicious"; and the CGI didn't get too much in the way;. All very well. It just seemed to go on for a very long time, and lacked the frenetic pacing of the "swordsman" films of the '90's.