Movie Review: Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame

By Angela Roberts

September 24, 2011

detective dee poster

It has the longest and cheesiest English title, but Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame was probably the best written, the best acted, and best directed of all the wuxia films I saw at Fantasia this year. It’s a high stakes fantasy adventure by one of the masters of Hong Kong cinema, Tsui Hark, set in a mysterious and epic ancient China where gangsters congregate in shadowy shanty-town caves, people spontaneously burst into flames, and giant Buddha statues loom over the city. It is into this fantastical world that Detective Dee is summoned back from prison by the woman who put him there, the soon-to-be Empress, whose officials are spontaneously combusting. Dee is aided in his quest by a wary albino constable and a hot-headed female bodyguard as he endeavors to discover how and why these crimes have been committed before they ruin the Empress’ coronation.

It’s really a thrilling movie, full of twists and turns, red herrings, betrayals, and the like. Even what would be an obvious cliché in another film seems fresh and logical the way it’s handled in this film. Detective Dee is a sort of wuxia Sherlock Holmes, that sort of savant detective whose methods seem mysterious to everyone around him. And there are numerous exciting fights and lots of gorgeous imagery, including some entirely not cheesy CGI. In fact, the CGI works pretty seamlessly with the rest of the film.

And what really elevates the film above the others is the acting and writing. And directing, of course. It’s all about the melodrama (or lack thereof). One thing I noticed in that crowded festival theatre was the reduced number of silly laughs. That’s always something you expect when North American audiences watch Hong Kong movies; especially if you’re used to it, the melodrama can tickle your funny bone. It’s nervous laughter; I think we North Americans are hard-wired to be more cynical about our media, and the cynic’s response to melodrama is often nervous laughter. But happily, this is one film where the melodrama works. Of course there is some; what would a Hong Kong wuxia film be without it? But imagine Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; imagine Hero. Those films handled melodrama in a natural way that made utter sense to us watching it. The same goes for Detective Dee; it’s never cheesy or ridiculous. It just works.

So, why, you might ask, am I bringing this movie up so long since I saw it at Fantasia? That was nearly two months ago, you might say. Well, Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame has managed to do what few Hong Kong films have managed; it has hit commercial North American cinemas. This is absolutely not something to be missed if you love wuxia films; these movies rarely stay for long, so if it’s playing at a theatre near you, I urge you to see it today. You won’t be disappointed.

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