Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon

狄仁杰之神都龙王

Hong Kong/China, 2013, colour, 2.35:1, 3-D, 133 mins.

Director: Xu Ke 徐克 [Tsui Hark].

Rating: 7/10.

Better balanced prequel, including fine use of 3-D, still has an auto-pilot feel.

STORY

Luoyang, east central China, AD 665, early Tang dynasty. The Tang dynasty is being threatened by the Korean Buyeo kingdom and sends out a fleet against it as a warning; en route, however, the fleet is wrecked, supposedly by the Sea Dragon. Wu Zetian (Liu Jialing), empress consort of weak emperor Gaozong (Sheng Jian) and the country’s effective ruler, orders Yuchi Zhenjin (Feng Shaofeng), ambitious head of the Justice Department, to solve the mystery in 10 days or pay with his life. That same day, as a huge procession led by the city’s most famous courtesan, Yin Ruiji (Yang Ying), is taking place to placate the Sea Dragon, Di Renjie (Zhao Youting), a 30-year-old former bailiff from Bing county, arrives to take up a job at the Justice Department. En route, he lip-reads a plot to kidnap Yin Ruiji from Sea Dragon Temple and rushes to save her. The kidnappers prove too strong but then Yin Ruiji is snatched by a mysterious half-reptile, half human who emerges from the temple’s lily pond. Di Renjie rescues her and returns her to her quarters in Swallow House, which is then sealed off by Yuchi Zhenjin, who also arrests Di Renjie as a suspect. With the help of a medical assistant at the Justice Department, a Uyghur called Shatuo Zhong (Lin Gengxin), Di Renjie escapes and discovers that the half-reptile, half-human is Yin Ruiji’s lover, Yuan Zhen (Gim Beom), the wealthy owner of Tranquility Teahouse which makes a special blend, Birds’ Tongue Tea, exclusively for the Tang court. Di finds out that Yuan Zhen’s body was invaded by a transformative parasite, and that the crime is somehow linked with the Dondo 东岛 (East Island) people, led by Huo Yi (Hu Dong), who live on Bat Island between China and Japan.

REVIEW

Three years after the box-office success of Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame 狄仁杰之通天帝国 (2010), Hong Kong director Xu Ke 徐克 [Tsui Hark] and Mainland production house Huayi Brothers re-team to kickstart a franchise about the real-life Tang dynasty detective not with a sequel but with a prequel, the company’s first movie in true 3-D. Set 24 years earlier, with Taiwan’s Zhao Youting 赵又廷 [Mark Chao] (First Time 第一次, 2012; So Young 致我们终将逝去的青春, 2013) replacing Hong Kong veteran Liu Dehua 刘德华 [Andy Lau] as the Sherlockian sleuth, Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon 狄仁杰之神都龙王 is the usual Xu masala of popcorn action and fantasy that he’s been peddling, basically unchanged, for the past quarter-century – if here slightly less frenetically, and with stereoscopy that adds depth throughout. It’s all entertaining enough at a popcorn level but, unlike his previous Flying Swords of Dragon Gate 龙门飞甲 (2011), feels like Xu has gone back to directing on auto-pilot.

The production design this time round is less impressive than Phantom Flame‘s (which had great fun with the mechanics and pulleys of the main set) and the wire-heavy action, with Hong Kong’s Yuan Bin 元彬 replacing Hong Jinbao 洪金宝 [Sammo Hung], is rather unimaginative and repetitive, with none of the individual character and bounce that Yuan brought to Flying Swords. It is, however, more spatially comprehensible than many of Xu’s earlier action movies, so more’s the shame that the music has been turned over to Japan’s Kawai Kenji 川井憲次 – who supplies another of his by-the-numbers, wallpaper scores – instead of re-using Phantom Flame‘s Jin Peida 金培达 [Peter Kam], who gave the first movie considerable dramatic scope.

The script, again by Taiwan’s Zhang Jialu 张家鲁 (The Matrimony 心中有鬼, 2006; Forever Enthralled 梅兰芳, 2008), is better balanced but lacks a real sense of detection, of a mystery unfolding and being solved by logic, brainpower and moments of sudden revelation. Maybe that’s deliberate, given that this is the young Detective Dee who still has to prove himself; but in general the plot – which spins on a diabolical scheme to undermine the early Tang via a quality tea blend – veers more towards fantasy than grounded crime, with sea monsters, physical transformations and water- (rather than fire-) based imagery all stirred into a softer, more sensual mix than Phantom Flame. The fast-flowing storyline doesn’t allow much time for character development or any audience empathy (a recurrent Xu weakness) and the hunt-the-monster finale that occupies the final half-hour after the mystery is basically solved also goes on way too long (ditto). Too often, but especially at the end, visual effects and 3-D are left to carry the picture.

Where Sea Dragon scores over Phantom Flame, however, is in its lead, with Zhao, not usually the most expressive of actors, ideally cast here as the quietly self-assured detective. As well as looking more like a younger version of the character portrayed in Chinese TV dramas, he also anchors the movie in a way that Liu never did, working within but discreetly controlling an ensemble led by China’s excellent Feng Shaofeng 冯绍峰 (the comic quack in Painted Skin: The Resurrection 画皮II, 2012) as his gleaming-eyed boss and Lin Gengxin 林更新 (TV drama Scarlet Heart 步步惊心, 2011) as his sidekick.

Casting of supporting roles is generally colourful, including Mainland pin-up Chen Kun 陈坤 cameoing as a crazed doctor. Alas, the same can’t be said for the romantic leads, with Yang Ying 杨颖 [Angelababy] out of her depth as “the city’s top courtesan” and generating no sparks with South Korea’s Gim Beom 김범 | 金范 (Fly High 비상, 2009) as her equally cute lover. Though she’s fine in romantic comedies, Yang is totally outclassed by the only other actress, Liu Jialing 刘嘉玲 [Carina Lau], who almost steals the film in her handful of scenes as the coldly manipulative, de facto empress Wu Zetian, all showy wardrobe, towering hairdos and plunging eyebrows. When Liu’s on screen, the movie sizzles in a way the rest of it – for all the action – never does.

CREDITS

Presented by Huayi Brothers Media (CN), Huayi Brothers International (HK). Produced by Film Workshop (HK), Huayi Brothers Media (CN).

Script: Zhang Jialu, Xu Ke [Tsui Hark]. Original story: Chen Guofu, Xu Ke [Tsui Hark]. Photography: Cai Chonghui [Johnny Choi]. Editing: Yu Baiyang. Music: Kawai Kenji. Production design: Mai Guoqiang [Kenneth Mak]. Styling: Yu Jia’an [Bruce Yu]. Costume design: Li Bijun [Lee Pik-kwan]. Sound: Zeng Jingxiang [Kinson Tsang]. Action: Yuan Bin, Lin Feng. Visual effects: Gim Uk. Choreography: Xia Chunyu. 3-D: Liu Jiahui, Li Ziheng, Chen Peiyu.

Cast: Zhao Youting [Mark Chao] (Di Renjie/Detective Dee), Feng Shaofeng (Yuchi Zhenjin), Lin Gengxin (Shatuo Zhong), Gim Beom (Yuan Zhen), Yang Ying [Angelababy] (Yin Ruiji, courtesan), Liu Jialing [Carina Lau] (Wu Zetian, empress consort), Chen Kun (Wang Pu, doctor), Hu Dong (Huo Yi), Ma Jingjing (Tuoba Lie), Sheng Jian (Gaozong, emperor), Lin Zhaoxu (Cheng An, Justice Department reception officer), Zhang Shan (Chusui Liang), Chen Guoyi (admiral), Tie Nan (Bo Qianzhang), Yan Jie (Kuang Zhao), Wang Yachao (Zhou Qian), Zhang Hao (Rui Yun, Taoist priest), Deng Limin (Wang, master), Jiang Guoyin (Lao, eunuch), Gao Yulin (Ding Yuanda), Lai Jiatong, Yan Jiahui, Tian Hangyu (vice-admirals), A Nuo, Tuli Guer, Wu Qingjian, Zhou Peng, Gao Yuanfeng, Zhang Fucheng (Tuoba Lie’s men), Chen Meihui, Sun Wenxue, Zhang Junzhu (Yin Ruiji’s maids).

Release: Hong Kong, 27 Sep 2013; China, 28 Sep 2013.

(Review originally published on Film Business Asia, 16 Oct 2013.)