Detective Dee and the Curse of the Sea Monster - DVD

Content: Even a legend like Dee Renjie once started small. Many years before his Phantom Flame adventure, Dee (Mark Chao), then 30 years old, came to Luoyang, the City of the Gods, to begin his service here with the Da Lisi. But even before he is cleared for duty, he must also prevent the kidnapping of courtesan Yin Ruiji (Angelababy). His wayward efforts turn Yuchi Zhenjin (Shaofeng Feng), the Da Lisi's commander-in-chief, against him and lands him in prison. But with the help of Doctor Shatuo (Lin Gengxin) he manages to escape. Now he can devote himself to the investigation again, which leads him in an unexpected direction. Soon Yuchi, given little time by the Empress (Carina Lau) to solve the mysterious appearance of a sea monster, finds himself forced to work with Dee. For the attempted kidnapping of Yin Ruiji and the mysterious monster appear to be part of a very large conspiracy that could threaten the entire Tang Dynasty empire...

Following the huge success of Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flames, another cinematic adventure for the brilliant investigator was quickly a done deal for director Tsui Hark. Instead of Andy Lau this time Mark Chao plays the younger version of Dee Renjie. In direct comparison Chao doesn't perform quite as well as Lau, who gave the investigator a bit more dignity and elegance. Nevertheless, Chao also does a pretty good job overall. Still, even he can't prevent Detective Dee and the Curse of the Sea Monster from not quite holding a candle to its predecessor.

Tsui Hark was able to blow a bit more budget this time around, but this prequel is significantly more elaborate overall, which ultimately makes the effects seem a bit cheaper than in the first film. Furthermore, the story with its different plotlines is too overloaded and with a running time of more than two hours it's also about 20 minutes too long. The high entertainment factor of the predecessor is only reached by Detective Dee and the Curse of the Sea Monster in the very well realized fight sequences and in the brilliant finale. Although the film defies all laws of logic here, the over-the-top fantasy action is a lot of fun. If Hark had trimmed some of the lengthy scenes and included more of these kinds of fast-paced fun scenes instead, this second Dee adventure would have been a real blast.

As it is, the whole thing isn't quite a big hit, but it's still very entertaining popcorn cinema with a set-up worth watching, some nice effects and rousing fight sequences. If you appreciate imaginative Hong Kong blockbusters and liked the first Detective Dee movie, you will definitely enjoy this one as well, despite some lengths. Worth seeing!

Image + Sound: From a purely technical point of view, the film can fully convince on the DVD. Although many scenes take place in the dark, the image sharpness is throughout on a good, in bright moments even on a very good level. Contrast, black levels and colour mixing also leave a positive overall impression. The sound mix transports the dialogues well understandable from the speakers and especially in the fight scenes - especially in the big finale - comes powerful movement in the surround area. Good!

Extras: As a bonus, the DVD has short featurettes about the stunts (approx. 4:31 min.), the royal detective team (approx. 4:22 min.) and the Tang dynasty (approx. 4:27 min.), as well as the trailer and concept art (approx. 1:30 min.) to offer. Not much, but worth watching!

Conclusion:Detective Dee and the Curse of the Sea Monster is an entertaining prequel to the hit Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flames, though this outing for the young Detective Dee doesn't quite hold a candle to its predecessor in terms of drama and pacing. The spectacular finale and some very good fight sequences, however, console over some of the weaknesses and make the film an entertaining fantasy adventure, which presents itself on the DVD in good picture and sound quality. Highly recommended for lovers of Hong Kong blockbusters and Chinese fantasy tales!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp