A Reel Life film section
Issue: Autumn 2014
Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon (2013) movie review
Fantastic Fun
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Contents of Festivale Bookroom and Technology Bytes, Pictorial Guide to Melbourne and Victoria.
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Bonkers is not the word. Utterly bonkers is close...
Prequel to the very entertaining Detective Dee And The Mystery Of The Phantom Flame, this film details how the eponymous Detective Dee came to work for the Imperial Court. As such, the only actor to return is Carina Lau as Empress Wu, reprising her role as the harsh, unforgiving regent.
The story is mad. It manages to cram in political intrigue, professional rivalry, a beauty and the beast story, some Creature From The Black Lagoon imagery, ocean warfare, mad martial arts (a la Crouching Tiger...), action, comedy and a giant fuck off sea monster.
Movie poster, Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon
It's really good fun and races along from one set piece to the next. The only negatives are, it's a touch messy and could do with more focus on the characters, it relies heavily on CGI for the fights and the subtitles are sometimes far too fast to read. However, these are minor points as it's all carried out with verve and exuberance. The design is stunning, no one uses colours quite like Hong Kong/Chinese cinema (I missed some of the subtitles because I was staring at the set - a rare thing for me) and the 'Sea Dragon' is possibly the best realised CGI monster I've seen in a long time (even compared to stuff like The Hobbit - it has a solidity that a lot of Hollywood films lack).
Well worth a watch. I really hope there're more.
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by Paul M. Feeney |
Just the facts:Title: Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon (2013) The Players: Official website: IMDb entry For session times of current films, use the cinema listings on the Movie links page. For scheduled release dates, see the coming attractions section. For more information about this movie, check out the internet movie database. |
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Filed: 08-May-2014
Last updated: 08-May-2014
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Last compiled: 28-Jan-2016
