The PSA thingy at the theatre reminded me to silence my cell phone, buy lots of candy, and that movies are a great escape. Phone was off, I had two boxes of Goobers, and a short while later I discovered that Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame was indeed some fantastic escapist entertainment.
It is 690 and Wu Zetian is soon to be crowned empress. However, there is discontentment amongst various lords who are not keen on having a woman ascend to the imperial throne. Heedless of their protestations, plans for the coronation continue unabated and they include a massive effigy of the Buddha which stands near the imperial palace. It is 66 yards tall and hollow inside so the view from the statue's eyes is fantastic. Only days before the coronation one of Wu's mandarins is giving a couple of Arab delegates a tour of it. They take an elevator to the top and marvel at the view that the clear, sunny day provides when one of the mandarins suddenly bursts into flames. The stunned onlookers can only watch in horror as his body is consumed and the charred remains tumble to the ground.
Since any delay in the construction of the statue would interfere with Wu's coronation plans, solving the mystery is of the highest priority. When the supervisor of the building project bursts into flames as well on his way to update the empress-to-be on what has happened, the situation only gets more desperate.
Detective Dee had previously crossed Wu who in turn had him arrested and jailed. However, she has him released in order to utilize his superior sleuthing skills. Dee is teamed up with the albino Donglai, a rather splenetic man who is basically the equivalent of a federal marshal and Jing'er, a beautiful young woman that serves as Wu's Praetorian guard and trusted confidante adroitly wielding a whip all the while. Dee is older than both of them and is thusly wiser and more patient than his confrères who are rash and eager to prove themselves.
The trio's investigation takes them to such fantastic places as the Phantom Bazaar, which is the remains of a long-buried city where they meet what appears to be the Imperial Chaplain but is really a bizarre puppet that is animated by a series of small clockwork creatures sporting some sharp blades of their own. Director Hark Tsui is a veteran though I've never seen anything else by him. Here he keeps a tight rein on the story by focusing on our investigators and only rarely cutting away from them to show what devious plots are being hatched elsewhere.
As is to be expected, the scenery and the costumes are very stylized and colorful. Empress Wu's ever-changing series of baroque hair styles are Oscar worthy alone. The movie was shot in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio and so the aerial shots swooping over the city are gorgeous. The widescreen is also put to good use in the abundant fight scenes such as when someone gracefully flies 30 feet and lands on a log only to kick it back almost effortlessly to the other side of the screen where the bad guy awaits. With all of the recent debate about "intensified continuity" amongst cinephiles, I am happy to report that Tsui and his crew mostly avoid that pitfall. While there are some quick cuts and handy protrusions just perfect to wrap a whip around appear out of nowhere, the editors aren't afraid to let a shot linger for a little bit and Tsui gives us plenty of long shots to show where everyone is leaping from and flying to.
Although there was one pretty large plot hole and much of the acting was sheer scenery chewing, it shouldn't distract you from the great fun of watching Dee and a half-naked Jing'er escape from an unremitting barrage of arrows.
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