Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings

狄仁杰之四大天王

Hong Kong/China, 2018, colour, 2.35:1, 3-D, 132 mins.

Director: Xu Ke 徐克 [Tsui Hark].

Rating: 7/10.

Third outing of the costume action series has an initially fresher feel that, alas, doesn’t last.

STORY

Luoyang, east central China, c. AD 665, early Tang dynasty. After saving the country from the Sea Dragon, Di Renjie (Zhao Youting), young head of the Bureau of Investigations, is presented with the legendary Dragon-Taming Mace – “forged in iron from stardust” – by emperor Gaozong (Sheng Jian) in order to “protect the nation”. Annoyed by him getting this honour, empress consort Wu Zetian (Liu Jialing) turns to Di Renjie’s sworn brother Yuchi Zhenjin (Feng Shaofeng), head of the Golden Guard, to get the mace away from Di Renjie. Yuchi Zhenjin agrees, as long as Di Renjie suffers no harm, and brings in four martial-arts magicians, the Mystic Clan, led by Huan Tian (Zhang Aoyue), to help him. Di Renjie and his sidekick Shatuo Zhong (Lin Gengxin) are called to investigate the case of a painter, Leng Yu (Zhang Yiqian), whose studio has been broken into and family been spirited away. Di Renjie eventually discovers that the case is connected with Yuchi Zhenjin’s attempt to gain possession of the mace. Annoyed by Yuchi Zhenjin’s failure, Wu Zetian consults a veteran imprisoned minister, the Faceless Lord (Jia Wei), for advice; he says she must take the Bureau of Investigations away from Di Renjie. After Di Renjie goes undercover in disguise, Wu Zetian does just that, on the grounds of “public safety”. Meanwhile, Yuchi Zhenjin deduces where the mace is hidden and defends it against an attack from Spectral Blades (Sun Jiaolong), one of the Mystic Clan. Over Yuchi Zhenjin’s head, Wu Zetian appoints Huan Tian as an imperial advisor, and Yuchi Zhenjin is then framed for the murder of some of his own Golden Guard. This is the move that Di Renjie has been expecting from an Indian sect known as the Wind Warriors, who had helped the emperor to power but then been betrayed by him. Meanwhile, Water Moon (Ma Sichun), an assassin from the Tiele people, has discovered the same plot and is almost killed. She’s rescued by Shatuo Zhong, who has taken a liking to her and is also originally from the Tiele people.

REVIEW

The main players from Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon 狄仁杰之神都龙王 (2013) are all back in Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings 狄仁杰之四大天王, the third in the series centred round the Tang dynasty sleuth and the second prequel to the original film, Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame 狄仁杰之通天帝国 (2010). (So why has Young been dropped from the title?) With Hong Kong veteran Xu Ke 徐克 [Tsui Hark] again at the helm, along with most of Sea Dragon‘s key crew – Taiwan co-writer Zhang Jialu 张家鲁, Japanese composer Kawai Kenji 川井憲次, and Hong Kong d.p. Cai Chonghui 蔡崇辉 [Johnny Choi], stylist Yu Jia’an 余家安 [Bruce Yu] and costumer Li Bijun 利碧君 [Lee Pik-kwan] – it’s pretty much business as usual, though this time Xu is marginally less on auto-pilot than before. Released, like Sea Dragon, in 3-D, it grossed an almost identical amount (some RMB600 million) in the Mainland – a solid but by no means spectacular amount in a market where RMB1 billion is now the starting point for major hits.

With a new production designer in Japan’s Akatsuka Yoshihito 赤塚佳仁 (Warriors of the Rainbow 赛德克•巴莱, 2011; Xu’s Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back 西游2  伏妖篇, 2017), the film has a markedly different look that isn’t reliant on mechanical gizmos and has a sense of architecture and space – similar to old-style Shaw Brothers productions, in fact – despite being largely shot on sound stages. Even more notably, the tempo is much more relaxed than Xu’s usual rapid-fire pacing, and even slows down for some human interaction. This could be because Xu’s co-editor this time is Li Lin 李林, with whom he cut The Thousand Faces of Dunjia 奇门遁甲 (2017), another pulpy, old-style production that found some character moments whenever it paused for breath.

All of this gives the first hour or so a refreshing quality as the plot gradually unfolds and the principals – especially Liu Jialing 刘嘉玲 [Carina Lau] as the ruthless empress consort, Feng Shaofeng 冯绍峰 as the conflicted head of the Golden Guard, and Lin Gengxin 林更新 as Di Renjie’s jokey sidekick – get some space to register. With all its multiple threads, the script is also more than just a series of setpieces this time, and there’s even some sense of structure as the internal power struggle between the jealous empress consort and the goodly Di Renjie yields to the real villains being unmasked and the whole country placed in threat.

Sad to say, however, Xu eventually resorts to type: after the main plot has basically resolved itself by the 90-minute point, the film is strung out for a further half-hour, with monsters (including an albino King Kong) and the usual VFX over-load. There are still some good moments – such as an unexpectedly moving scene in which Di Renjie & Co. beg the help of a young female assassin – but not enough to justify the film’s two-hour-plus length. Most notable of all, there’s no real detection – apart from an opening case involving a painter – in a film that’s meant to be centred on a (real-life) costume sleuth. Di Renjie has become just another action hero.

As the young Di Renjie, Taiwan actor Zhao Youting 赵又廷 [Mark Chao] makes less of an impression than he did in Sea Dragon, and is comprehensively overshadowed by Feng as his flashing-eyed pal and scene-stealing veteran Liu in a double role as the nasty empress and a villainous double. On a character level, Li emerges as the most likeable, in a beefed-up role as Di Renjie’s sidekick and a charming/funny odd-couple romance with a spunky assassin played by Ma Sichun 马思纯 (The Left Ear 左耳, 2015; SoulMate 七月与安生, 2016; Nuts 奇葩朵朵, 2018). One of the Mainland’s most interesting second-tier actresses, Ma, 30, has kind of been here before – playing a hard-arsed adventurer in Time Raiders 盗墓笔记 (2016) – but here she gets an action role that also calls for some real acting, as well as being the most prominent “ethnic” character in a script that’s full of non-Mandarin dialogue and non-Han characters.

Visual effects have a pulpy look that fits the film’s popcorn tone. The most notable failure on the technical side is (not for the first time) Kawai’s feeble score, which does nothing to enhance the drama and even drops in a “Ride of the Valkyries” quote in the early going.

CREDITS

Presented by Huayi Brothers Pictures (CN), CKF Pictures (Ningbo) (CN), Huayi Brothers Pictures International (HK). Produced by Film Workshop (HK), Huayi Brothers Pictures (CN).

Script: Zhang Jialu, Xu Ke [Tsui Hark]. Original story: Chen Guofu, Xu Ke [Tsui Hark]. Photography: Cai Chonghui [Johnny Choi]. Editing: Li Lin, Xu Ke [Tsui Hark]. Music: Kawai Kenji. Production design: Akatsuka Yoshihito. Art direction: Li Jingwen. Costume design: Li Bijun [Lee Pik-kwan]. Styling: Yu Jia’an [Bruce Yu]. Sound: Steve Burgess. Action: Lin Feng, Li Mingliang. Visual effects: Cai Zhuying, Bak Yeong-su, Maegawa Hideaki, Ji Myeong-gu.

Cast: Zhao Youting [Mark Chao] (Di Renjie/Detective Dee), Feng Shaofeng (Yuchi Zhenjin), Lin Gengxin (Shatuo Zhong), Ruan Jingtian (Yuan Ce, Sanzang Temple monk), Ma Sichun (Shui Yue/Water Moon), Liu Jialing [Carina Lau] (Wu Zetian, empress consort), Sheng Jian (Gaozong, emperor), Yang Yiwei (Ding Xun), Bao Rifu (Huahuo Guiye/Night Ghost), Zhang Aoyue (Huan Tian), Sun Jiaolong (Youming Badao/Spectral Blades), Wang Xichao (Miaoshou Feiyan/Smoke Volant), Shi Shenggang (Bo Qianzhang), Li Binglei (Huo Geng, Yuchi Zhenjin’s deputy), Xu Minghu (Yi An), Guo Hui (Han Ping), Mu Kaikai (Zhou Jin), Liu Qianzi (Ting Yi), Chen Weiran (Hong Yuanwu), Zang Yiyu (monk), Gao Xi’an (Sanzang), Huang Lufei (dancer), Huang Wei (shopkeeper), Zhang Yiqian (Leng Yu, painter), Wang He (fairy), Jia Wei (Wind Warriors leader; Faceless Lord).

Release: Hong Kong, 13 Sep 2018; China, 27 Jul 2018.