YOUNG DETECTIVE DEE: RISE OF THE SEA DRAGON (狄仁杰之神都龙王) DVD (2013)

SYNOPSIS: The young Dee Renjie arrives in the Imperial Capital to join the Supreme Court as a district magistrate, a high level government posting with the functions of detective, prosecutor, judge and executioner intent to become an officer of the law. Empress Wu, who is at the start of her reign, has sent the fiery-haired Detective Yuchi to investigate a sea monster that stalks the city at night. By chance, both Dee and Yuchi fight off the creature when it attacks a ceremonial procession carrying the beautiful courtesan Yin to be sacrificed at a temple to appease the Gods. Suspicious of the stranger, Yuchi has Dee imprisoned. Dee escapes with the help of visiting doctor Shatuo and together they discover that the upper reaches of society, including the Emperor himself, are addicted to a poisonous tea produced by Yuan's famous teahouse. Yuan, who was romantically attached to Yin, has been missing for months. Dee shadows the courtesan, who is under Yuchun's protection, until the sea monster reappears. Just as the two men are about to kill it, Yin reveals that the monster is her lover, Yuan. Yuan has been poisoned by a foreign Prince whose kingdom was overthrown by the Emperor. As the Prince's army readies itself on a nearby island to attack the capital, a real sea dragon rises from the deep.  

MOVIE REVIEW:

When I first heard of it, I thought it’s a shame Tsui Hark didn’t opt to do a sequel to his massively successful detective action pic, Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame but instead hatch a prequel with the screenwriters from the original, Chen Kuofu and Zhang Jialu.    

But my worries are completely unfounded in the end as the legendary Tsui Hark seems to be back in top form as he concocted another wildly fantasy, largely enjoyable adventure of a young Detective Dee.

Instead of CG face replacement for Andy Lau, Taiwanese actor Mark Chao (So Young) took on the role of Dee. Dee has just arrived in Luoyang City to join the Justice department headed by Chief Minister Yuchi (Feng Shaofeng). The people of Luoyang lived in fear of a fearful Sea Dragon and a beautiful courtesan; Ruiji (Angelababy) is to be sacrificed to appease the monster. But the trouble doesn’t end there as Ruiji is attacked by a scaly sea creature shortly after and Dee and Yuchi must reluctantly join hands to solve the case before Empress Wu Zetain (Carina Lau) cuts both their heads off.

It’s an absolutely pleasure to follow Dee on his investigation, truthfully there isn’t much investigation or complications as compared to Phantom Flame. The young Detective Dee is more of an impulsive and free spirited fellow that rush from point to another chasing after suspects and the sea creature while Yuchi makes a good crime solving partner with his no-nonsense attitude. The scripting allows many opportunities for Chao and Feng to work out some rivalry. That in a way allows the kinetic chemistry between the two actors to brought out the intensity needed to cover up the weaknesses of the detective flick.

For all the seriousness in the Andy Lau’s instalment where everyone has the risk of being combusted to death at anytime, there’s some light amusing moments right here with the introduction of a wacky physician (Mainland actor Chen Kun in his best performance) and his fumbling disciple, Shaluo (Lin Gengxin). Remember to stay back for the end credits for more.

In addition to Yuen Bun’s fluid action choreography, Tsui’s flawless attempt in applying 3D (though the DVD does not come with 3D technology) and visual effects once again prove the Zu Warriors filmmaker is still adept at making a visually stunning movie especially the climax which involved the relevance of the gigantic monster in the high sea.

Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon is a piece of enthralling entertainment, very much Tsui Hark at his commercial best. Well, there’s always Angelababy for eye candy sake if everything fails. 

SPECIAL FEATURES:

NIL

AUDIO/VISUAL:

The DVD comes with serviceable visual and audio aspects. A lack of a 5.1 channel track is glaring for this title though.  

MOVIE RATING:

DVD RATING :

Review by Linus Tee