To celebrate the coronation of China’s first female ruler, Empress Wu (Carina Lau), the government builds a gigantic Buddha overlooking the palace. During a final inspection of the statue, one of the officials spontaneously bursts into flames and dies. Is it a plot to stop Empress Wu from taking the thrown? Are the gods angry that the proper religious rites haven’t been followed? Is it murder? When nobody else can find the answer, the Empress decides to let the famous Detective Wu out of prison (she put him there in the first place for sedition) to solve the mystery. Director Tsui Hark (Once Upon a Time in China) is an expert at directing action scenes, and Detective Dee contains some of his best set pieces to date. He also does a great job of capturing the supernatural elements of the story on film in unique and interesting ways. And he does it without ever taking away from the strong performances of the actors, particularly Andy Lau as Detective Dee.
No comments:
Post a Comment