Latest ‘Detective Dee’ flick shocks with thrust on sorcery
LOS ANGELES: Prepare for shock and awe if you’re planning to watch Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings.
It’s replete with scenes of sorcery.
The third and most spectacular of the Chinese franchise is about a real-life sleuth of the Tang dynasty who uncovers a court conspiracy in which conjurers of illusions play a deadly role. Director Tsui Hark, 68, runs amok with visual effects while slipping in his usual political innuendoes about Machiavellianism and mind-control.
The script, co-written by Tsui with Chang Chialu, who also teamed up for the last two chapters of the franchise ( Detective Dee: Mystery of the Phantom Flame and Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon) provide relatively smooth exposition for a storyline packed with characters, action and backstory, though the mysteries, and Dee’s methods of deduction are less brain-teasing than before.
In Rise of the Sea Dragon, Di Renjie ( Mark Chao) — or Dee for short — came to the Tang capital of Luoyang to join the Dalisi, or Bureau of Investigations. With the grudging support of his partner/rival Yuchi Zhenjin ( Feng Shaofeng, Wolf Totem), they thwarted a conspiracy by the Dondoers, an island tribe that tried to enfeeble the ruling class to conquer Tang. Now, as reward, the Emperor Gaozong bestows on Dee the Dragon-taming Mace, which empowers him to subdue anyone threatening national security, even royalty.
The mace’s symbolic power irks Empress Wu (Carina Lau), and she orders Yuchi, now promoted to Commander of Golden Guards, to confiscate it. Distrustful of Yuchi, Wu sends a gang of sorcerers called the Mystic Clan to “assist” Yuchi on his mission. Not surprisingly, despite a treacherous ruse, both sides fail miserably to outwit Dee, who has made ingenious plans to hide the weapon. This provides occasions for elaborate strategic set pieces and fights utilising dazzling weaponry, such as giant scimitars that slice the air like sharpened frisbees and Ninja darts that explode like thunderballs.
As it happens, the Mystic Clan turns out to be mere opportunists wanting to curry favour with the court, whereas the more serious threat comes from an Indian sect, which earned the title “Wind Warriors” from the first Tang emperor when the group helped him found the empire.
Here, Tsui demonstrates unbiased historical insight in his vision of Tang as a Golden Age of ethnic and cultural diversity, but also a state of corruption and ruthless expansionism. Just as the Dondoers schemed against the Tang court because their survival was threatened, the Wind Warriors also nurse harsh grievances against the Imperial family. However, the real menace to the country’s stability actually springs from Empress Wu’s overarching ambition.