Charles Herold (cherold) I decided to watch this movie after seeing a trailer on youtube that made it look absolutely mind blowing, an incredible, overwhelming spectacle with incredible action; it basically looked like something that could rival Yimou Zhang's brilliant Hero. It's one hell of a trailer, and at times the movie comes close to living up to it.It takes a while for the movie to get going though. Sure, it's epic (although some of the special effects look a little too computer- generated, something I would think would be even more problematic on the big screen instead of my TV), but the pacing feels a little sluggish. It also turns out to be sillier than the trailer, as I realized when a talking deer started advising the Empress. The movie is rather odd in this way, offering magical touches but not really creating a consistently magical world.The first scene that really matched the trailer involves a naked woman and a remarkable number of arrows, and it totally awesome. In general, the action scenes are pretty cool.The story is decidedly convoluted and not everything in it makes narrative sense. But it comes close enough to making sense that the action keeps you from worrying too much about it.So no, it's not another Hero, but it has moments that come close. And while I would rather see the movie the guy who edited the trailer had in his head over the movie I actually got, the movie as it exists is really fun.

Tony Heck "Men have weak points, just like weapons. They will also break when struck." Wu Zetian wants to become China's first Supreme Empress. While the stage and Buddah is being constructed for the inauguration strange things begin to happen. First Master Jia spontaneously com-busts, followed by more people bursting into flames. The empress wants this mystery solved before she takes over and there is only one person she can think of to solve it, Detective Dee (Lau) a prisoner in jail for treason. Can he put aside his feelings and solve the mystery of the phantom flame in time? This is not usually the type of genre I get into, but I did enjoy this movie. The tag-line says "Crouching Tiger meets Sherlock Holmes", it's hard to disagree with that statement. I will add that I think this is a type of modern Kurosawa film. The feel and the plot are something that he would do, and the ending very much reminds me of his style in the way that you aren't really sure if the ending is good or bad for those involved and makes you think. Overall, again this is not normally my type of movie but I did very much enjoy it. Good story and action. I give it a B+.

EephusPitch To me, Zhang Yimou's HERO was a watershed moment: a masterful film, which features CGI. Since then, films in the "swordsman" genre, made by many of the masters of Hong Kong and Mainland cinema (Zhang, Chen Kaige, John Woo, and Tsui Hark) have increasingly, and detrimentally, relied on CGI. The ensuing films have been visually spectacular (HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS, CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER, THE PROMISE, RED CLIFF, THE PROMISE, and ZU WARRIORS, to name a few), but as films they were all somewhat lacking. It began to be my fervent wish that all of these estimable directors be given drastically reduced budgets and blue screens, and get back to the business of making great movies.DETECTIVE DEE etc has much going for it. Andy Lau Tak-Wah and Tony Leung Ka Fai are given able support from Li Bingbing, Carina Lau, and Chao Deng; Sammo Hung's fight choreography was stellar; the plot was convoluted; the anachronisms are what Giants' closer Brain Wilson would call "delicious"; and the CGI didn't get too much in the way;. All very well. It just seemed to go on for a very long time, and lacked the frenetic pacing of the "swordsman" films of the '90's.

pridemorek It had been a while since I had seen a Tsui Hark movie. I now feel remiss in not better keeping up with his career.Detective Dee is fantastic! The visuals are stunning. The sweeping, epic scenery and the HUGE set pieces transported me fully into the era of the Tang Dynasty. I was impressed by the CGI, often having trouble distinguishing where the real, physical parts of the set ended and the computer generated world began. The cinematography is superb.The story was complex but still digestible. The filmmakers threw up enough red herrings to keep me guessing while making it believable that Detective Dee could solve the case without huge leaps in logic.I found Andy Lau's performance effective, but was particularly impressed by Carina Lau who played Empress Wu. Her performance was both subtle and powerful. She was mesmerizing anytime she was on screen.As for the fight scenes, well... wow. I mean, really, WOW! The complexity of the final fight between Dee and the person he figures out committed the crime made fight scenes in the Bourne series look like child's play. Seriously. Now, there was wire work - I know some people really dislike that stuff in Kung Fu style movies, but it really worked in this setting. I hope people will give this one a chance. I really thought Detective Dee was fantastic!