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Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame Review

Other Critics provided by Metacritic.com

Critics scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 4.0
    75

    out of 100

    Metascore®
    Generally favorable reviews
    based on a weighted average of all
    critic review scores.

  • 100

    out of 100

    Time Richard Corliss

    The 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."

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  • 100

    out of 100

    Wall Street Journal John Anderson

    The pulp-fictional hero is inhabited by the charismatic Andy Lau who, together with Chinese stars Bingbing Li, Ms. Lau and Tony Leung Ka-fai, makes Detective Dee the most purely entertaining film of our vanishing summer.

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  • 70

    out of 100

    Variety Justin Chang

    An inventive marriage of ancient China and Agatha Christie, Detective Dee and the Mystery of Phantom Flame is a lavishly overwrought historical whodunit.

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  • 70

    out of 100

    The Hollywood Reporter

    Although it lacks the historical aura of classic Chinese wuxia backdrops, James Chiu's post-"Avatar" production design is memorably imaginative.

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  • 80

    out of 100

    The New York Times A.O. Scott

    Witty but not campy, grand without being unduly somber, it is a crazy, almost-coherent riot of intrigue, color and kineticism anchored by the charisma of its cast.

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  • 80

    out of 100

    Village Voice J. Hoberman

    Magnificent 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.

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  • 88

    out of 100

    Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

    On the basis of its scale, energy and magical events, this is the Hong Kong equivalent of a big-budget Hollywood blockbuster. But it transcends them with the stylization of the costumes, the panoply of the folklore, the richness of the setting, and the fact that none of the characters (allegedly) have superpowers.

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  • 90

    out of 100

    Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas

    It has opulent, stylized settings of elegance, grandeur and scope, flawless special effects, and awesome martial arts combat staged by the master, Sammo Hung. Yet bravura spectacle never overwhelms either the plot or the key characters. Chang Chia-lu's intricate script bristles with wit and suspense; the film from start to finish is a terrific entertainment.

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  • See all Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame reviews at Metacritic.com

Fan Reviews provided by

4

Awesomeness! by entropicangel42
One review called this movie a cross between Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes and Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. The comparison is apt. The martial arts here are over the top and amazing, and the mystery is solid, as an imprisoned detective in ancient China is let out to investigate several mysterious deaths by spontaneous combustion. On the minus side, the movie sort of feels like a propaganda piece for the Chinese government.

4

Action-packed foreign fun by 2z2
Not expecting much, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality action sequences (orchestrated by the great Sammo Hung) and the general atmosphere of the film. The music was complementary throughout and the acting was, on the whole, solid. Some special effects were a bit fake looking, but for an eastern-produced film were acceptable. Worth your time if you're into Crouching Tiger style action with an interesting, historical backdrop.

3

by DirtyBarry

4

engaging plot and great fight scenes. by namelynorm

3

Detective Dee 3/5 by Opinion_and_a_Movie
Detective Dee is as beautiful, well acted, and as well choreographed as you would expect of a Hong Kong action movie, but it all begins to fall apart when the film takes on too much plotwise. Detective Dee also experiements with several different types of effects, and not all of them are well executed. The movie would have been significantly better with some editing and a refinement of the CGI. Not at all a bad film, but one better saved for a rental. opinionandamovie blogspot com

4

Detective Dee was very entertaining by chungdsk1
Enjoyed the action and humor. Fun movie, very entertaining.

1

TERRIBLE by pepsiking15
This is by far the worst movie I have ever seen in my life. It's like Scooby-Doo with blurry, over-done kungfu sequences and an overly extended storyline. For me thetalking deer was too much. For those of you who rate this highly, I swear you saw a different movie.

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