Movie: Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame
Genre: mystery-thriller
Chinese with English subtitles
Synopsis: The year is 689 and Empress Wu Setian (Carina Lau) is about to be coronated first female Chinese emperor. To commemorate her coronation, she is having a 66 yard high statue of herself built. As the coronation approaches, high ranking officials start dying by bursting into flame from within. In a desperate attempt to solve – and stop – the murders, the empress orders the great Detective Dee to be released from prison – the prison she had sent him to eight years earlier. Detective Dee’s investigation leads him through wild chases, attacks by mysterious assassins as well as government soldiers. Along the way, more people are dying by the “Phantom Flame”.
My two cents: The movie had a lot going for it: huge sets, lots of martial arts fighting, supernatural enemies, an innovative storyline . . . My only wish was that the fighting had looked a little more realistic and less staged. Some of the names in the English subtitles had interesting translations. My favorite was the royal physician: Doctor Donkey Wang. In retrospect – although not a bad movie, I would rather have waited for this to come around on TV.
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