a5c7b9f00b An exiled detective is recruited to solve a series of mysterious deaths that threaten to delay the inauguration of Empress Wu. In 689 A.D., the Empress Wu Zetian is building a 66 m high statue of Buddha for her inaugurationthe first empress of China under the objections and conspiracy of the other clans. When the engineer responsible for the construction mysteriously dies by spontaneous combustion, the superstitious workers are afraid since the man removed the good luck charms from the main pillar. There is an investigation of Pei Donglai and another investigator that also dies after withdrawing the amulets. Empress Wu assigns her loyal assistant Shangguan Jing&#39;er to release the exiled Detective Dee from his imprisonment to investigate with Donglai and Jing&#39;er the mystery of the deaths. They ride in a mystic and epic adventure to unravel the mystery. SPOILERS - sorry I cannot review this without leaking major spoilers. You&#39;ve been forewarned! I liked the film, but not enough to say I&#39;d watch it over and over again. People here are giving it 8, 9, or 10 out of 10. I could only muster a 6.5 The directing is very good. Tsui Hark does a good job of moving the camera around, focusing on the action and the actors. The actorsa whole do a good job. Andy Lau does welldo all his costars. Worth noting is the performance by Carina Lau, both menacing, and authoritativean empress struggling to retain her throne.<br/><br/>But for me it&#39;s the storyline that fails this otherwise decent film. It&#39;s a detective story and there should be plot twists and turns. But here the obvious culprit is let off the hook for no real reason other than he knows the famed Detective Dee. The mystery part of it fails for me and in a mystery movie, that&#39;s pretty important.<br/><br/>6.5/10 Tsui Hark best film in years It&#39;s been a long time coming, but finally, Tsui Hark delivers. It is a moment for cause and celebrate. Perhaps that going a bit over board, because despite the last decade of eccentric films that Hark have delivers, at the back of our minds, we knew the little master still got tricks left in his box. Lucky for us, the wait is over. Detective Dee is probably what you call, the most ambitious, interesting, entertaining blockbuster film of the year. The effects are a joy to watch and does not pale in comparison to its Hollywood counterparts. The story is complicated and unpredictable on a few levels and certainly enough to glue our eyes to the screen. Adding to the mix, Hark also gave us, everyone&#39;s favorite in Andy Lau. What can possibility go wrong and luckily it doesn&#39;t.<br/><br/>What I really enjoyed about this film is the creativity, the differences and the ambition that contains Tsui Hark all over it. Sure it requires the likable screen presence of Andy Lau to carry the film and he does so, with the same kind of elegancealways. Along with the experienced veteran in Carina Lauthe Empress in waiting and Tony Leung Kar Faithe lead builder. Both performed with the sort of flair that adds to the film. Perhaps the weak link of the mix remains Li Bing Bing. Although I have personally bias towards this Bing Bing,I do not seem to be able to picture herpretty at all. Her performance is weak and her acting remains rather forced than acting. Then again, asking her to beprettyFan Bing Bing is stretching the eye candy factor a bridge too far.<br/><br/>All in all, Detective Dee easily one of the best film of 2010. It is by far, Mr. Hark best work in more than a decade. It is a shame that it took this long for the little master to shine once again. For long time HK Cinema fans, Detective Dee is the film that we are all waiting for. For me, Dee is a film that I thoroughly enjoyed watching. A must see (Neo 2010) <br/><br/>I rate it 9/10<br/><br/><ul><li>www.thehkneo.com</li></ul> Hark's new film is a consummately bizarre crowd-pleaser that throws everything at the viewer from makeshift plastic surgery by acupuncture to death by spontaneous combustion.
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