75
Metascore
23 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100TimeRichard CorlissTimeRichard CorlissThe movie is not just spectacle; it's got a tender, ultimately tragic love story and enough deadly political scheming to fill a Gaddafi playbook. Indeed, in its narrative cunning, luscious production design and martial-arts balletics, Detective Dee is up there with the first great kung-fu art film, King Hu's 1969 "A Touch of Zen." We'd call it "Crouching Tiger, Freakin' Masterpiece."
- 85MovielineStephanie ZacharekMovielineStephanie ZacharekI've seen Detective Dee twice now, and I still don't think I've taken the full measure of the visual nuttiness, and lushness, Tsui has packed in there.
- 80Village VoiceJ. HobermanVillage VoiceJ. HobermanMagnificent and cheesy, the latest and most proudly absurd of Chinese historical spectaculars, Detective Dee is a cinematic comic book for people who are sick of the mode.
- 75Slant MagazineSimon AbramsSlant MagazineSimon AbramsHark's new film is a consummately bizarre crowd-pleaser that throws everything at the viewer from makeshift plastic surgery by acupuncture to death by spontaneous combustion.
- 75The A.V. ClubNoel MurrayThe A.V. ClubNoel MurrayA historical epic with elements of wu xia, supernatural thrillers, and drawing-room murder mysteries.
- A CG-steeped period-piece fantasy that weds whodunit drama and punch-and-kick mayhem.
- 70The Hollywood ReporterThe Hollywood ReporterAlthough it lacks the historical aura of classic Chinese wuxia backdrops, James Chiu's post-"Avatar" production design is memorably imaginative.
- 70VarietyJustin ChangVarietyJustin ChangAn inventive marriage of ancient China and Agatha Christie, Detective Dee and the Mystery of Phantom Flame is a lavishly overwrought historical whodunit.
- 60Time OutKeith UhlichTime OutKeith UhlichAs the Sherlock Holmes of the second Zhou Dynasty, Lau is so effortlessly appealing that he manages to anchor the fatigue-heavy proceedings, even when his character has to outrun both the rays of the sun - don't ask - and a collapsing statue while crawling over and under a pack of stampeding horses. Now that's star power.