The Mystery of ‘Detective Dee’
Ashley Jo Will

There is a puzzle to be solved in the Chinese martial-arts action film “Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame”, released on video Dec. 13, 2011. It is 689 A.D. and Empress Wu, a regent for seven years, is soon to be appointed as the first female emperor in history. Many are not pleased with a woman ascending to the throne and conspire to overthrow her reign. Multiple prominent figures have recently died in a mysteriously fashion. They have spontaneously combusted, turning them into a pile of ash in a matter of seconds. Empress Wu decides to enlist the help of Detective Dee, who is being held in prison because of charges of treason. Despite his political alignment, Detective Dee is considered because of his brilliant problem-solving skills and martial-arts prowess.

Detective Dee showcases his martial arts not long after he is introduced to the audience. His specialty weapon is a mace with the power to find the weak point in other weapons and break them almost instantaneously. Detective Dee is taken to the empress and has no qualms about displaying his disdain for the royal figure. Empress Wu is a cold woman with a passion for power. She repeatedly states that to achieve greatness, everyone is expendable. The empress needs the detective and assigns a handmaiden named Jing’er to care for him. Jing’er seems to have hidden motives of her own and those may or may not surprise the audience. Like the empress, Detective Dee appears to be in mortal danger as well. Whoever seeks to disrupt Empress Wu’s reign clearly doesn’t want Detective Dee to stop them from completing their plan.

More people die in the same unique way as Detective Dee works to solve the mystery. Suspicions are raised about the background of the empress and some people believe that Detective Dee is discovering too much information about the inner-workings of the palace. A giant Buddha statue, 66 yards tall, plays a pivotal role in the film because the first combustion death occurred at the monument. Many laborers work inside the Buddha, rushing for completion before the date of Empress Wu’s inauguration, where she will be crowned emperor. The scaffolds and chains inside the Buddha set the scene for visually-pleasing martial-arts combat. The Buddha statue is like an additional character to the movie because so much happens inside the Buddha, as the audience will realize as they watch the film.

Detective Dee forms a band around him to solve the mystery of the phantom flame, including Jing’er and a military commander named Pei with a very serious countenance. Together they search for an eccentric man who eats insects and lives under ground. This strange man who may have an answer to a lead in the mystery is named Dr. Donkey Wang, a ridiculous name that makes me wonder whether the name has changed somewhat in the translation to English subtitles.

There are many supernatural elements involved in this film. In the beginning of the film, amulets are moved within the Buddha statue and there is worry that divine intervention has caused a curse on the perpetrator, leading to his death by combustion. There is a revered chaplain in the form of a deer in the film that has the power to speak and make others bow before it. The chaplain resides in the Infinite Monastery and no one is allowed to trespass on its premises. Detective Dee’s case leads him to investigate the secrets of the chaplain as well, even if his pursuit is frowned upon.

The film can seem a bit long and rather silly at times. For me, the outlandish features of the film led to its enjoyability. The fight scenes are also like candy for the eyes. The way pieces of the environment and wires are used lead to artfully crafted martial-arts choreography. The opponents each defy the laws of physics with the result of a beautiful fight scene. Fantastical elements are involved as well with the work of puppeteers controlling stylish and battle-ready marionettes. The emphasis of the action scenes unfortunately leads to the loss or near absence of character development. “Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame” is rightfully touted on the movie case to be a mix between “Sherlock Holmes” and “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” attributed to the stylized choreography and detective work of Detective Dee. I only wish I understood Chinese because I felt a deeper emotional level of the film is lost because of the translation.