Rent Detective Dee: Mystery of the Phantom Flame (2010)
3.3 of 5 from 89 ratings
1h 58min
If you’ve never seen one of Tsui Hark’s Detective Dee or Young Detective Dee period extravaganzas, why not start with the first, even if Rise of the Sea Dragon is perhaps even better. This is cinematic grandeur to the nth degree. An epic sense of scale, a riot of colour and luxurious set design, startling images, a racing plot, a dramatic score, spectacular wirework action set-pieces… all captured by arresting camerawork.
The plot? It begins with the building of a 66-yards-high Buddha, inside which a man bursts into flames from the inside out. A talking deer recommends Detective Dee look into it and he’s soon on the case with two uppity sidekicks. The result? An unmissable feast for the eyes.