6.7 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.8 |
The action-packed and captivating tale of Dee Renjie's beginnings in the Imperial police force. His very first case, investigating reports of a sea monster terrorizing the town, reveals a sinister conspiracy of treachery and betrayal, leading to the highest reaches of the Imperial family.
Starring: Mark Chao, Shaofeng Feng, Angelababy, Kim Bum, Carina LauForeign | 100% |
Action | 67% |
Martial arts | 45% |
Adventure | 20% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Mandarin: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Mandarin: Dolby Digital 2.0
English
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region free
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 0.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame proved to be one of 2010’s nicer surprises, a film which at least partially rehabilitated Tsui Hark’s reputation of not being able to properly manage story considerations even when the noted Vietnamese-Hong Kong director’s visual flair is fully on display. Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame played something like an ancient feudal Chinese version of a Sherlock Holmes mystery in its fanciful recreation of an actual historical figure from the Tang Dynasty, Di Renjie. While there are tangential connections to a series of crime novels written by Robert van Gulik, in Hark’s formulation Dee is an almost preternaturally aware investigator, one who uses Holmesian levels of observation and sensory attunement to ferret out various facts about suspects. The first film became a rather unexpected international blockbuster, piling up rather impressive box office numbers in the United States alone, and making several critics’ Top Ten lists for the year. While Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame was a bit more shapeless than Western audiences might have preferred, it was still a fun and exciting adventure story augmented by a decent mystery and nice evocation of ancient Chinese culture. Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon finds Tsui Hark returning to the well and not finding quite as much to exploit. Like the first film, there are a bevy of simultaneously unfolding plots, and this prequel at times feels a bit too crowded for its own good. There’s the same playful quality that the first film offered, and many fans of Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame should find a lot to enjoy in this new outing.
Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Well Go USA with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. This Red Epic shot feature looks great in the live action sequences, with nice fine detail (especially resplendent in showing the fine tailoring of the opulent costumes), good contrast and really lush and vibrant colors. Things are a bit problematic at times with regard to some hokey looking CGI elements, including a couple of major establishing shots that are soft enough that they almost could be termed Impressionistic. Despite the fact that quite a bit of the film takes places in darker interior environments, shadow detail remains strong and discernable throughout the presentation. Some of the underwater footage is murky and relatively soft looking. Despite being housed on only a single layer BD, the film is not that lengthy and there's only a trailer taking up additional space, so aside from one or two negligible moments of minor banding, there really aren't any other problems to mention.
Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 is a fairly bombastic affair with lots of potent LFE to liven up the low end. Some of the water effects are especially immersive (no pun intended), with clear differentiations in ambient "aural claustrophobia" when the camera ventures underwater. Dialogue is fast and furious and in fact I had a hard time keeping up with the optional English subtitles on occasion, repeatedly having to stop, rewind and/or pause to fully read what was transpiring. The dialogue is presented very cleanly and clearly, with good directionality, and the entire track boasts excellent fidelity and consistent surround activity.
While Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon is perhaps a bit more cogent from a purely narrative standpoint than the first Dee film, it's also overly busy at times, with too many competing subplots. The action sequences, while impressive, also tend to feel repetitive after a while—after all, how many times can we see the fighters fly into the upper reaches of an environment, twist and turn maniacally, and then return to earth to deliver a devastating blow? (That's a rhetorical question, since Hark evidently feels the answer is "as many times as I can squeeze into a two hour running time".) The film is really colorful and filled with opulent sets and costumes, though the CGI at times is almost slapdash in its quality. Overall, this is a worthy if slightly lesser follow-up to the first film, which (truth be told) had its own (if different) issues. Fans of that first film will almost certainly get a kick (so to speak) out of this prequel. The one big disappointment here is that there is evidently not going to be a 3D Blu-ray release, for it certainly seems from this 2D iteration that the 3D effects were spectacular. All in all, Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon comes Recommended.
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