Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Tony Ka Fai Leung | ... | Shatuo Zhong | |
Chao Deng | ... | Pei Donglai | |
Carina Lau | ... | Empress Wu Zetian | |
Bingbing Li | ... | Shangguan Jing'er (as Li Bing Bing) | |
Andy Lau | ... | Detective Dee | |
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Jean-Michel Casanova | ... | General Aspar (as Michel) |
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Sos Haroyan | ... | Assistant to Umayyad Ambassador |
Jialin Zhao | ... | Interpreter | |
Yan Qin | ... | Jia Yi | |
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Jinshan Liu | ... | Xue Yong |
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Aaron C. Shang | ... | Shaizi (as Aaron Shang) |
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Deshun Wang | ... | Xiazi Ling |
Mickey He | ... | Prison Officer (as Shenming He) | |
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Lu Yao | ... | Li Xiao |
Yanming Jiang | ... | Undertaker |
In 689 A.D., the Empress Wu Zetian is building a 66 m high statue of Buddha for her inauguration as the first empress of China under the objections and conspiracy of the other clans. When the engineer responsible for the construction mysteriously dies by spontaneous combustion, the superstitious workers are afraid since the man removed the good luck charms from the main pillar. There is an investigation of Pei Donglai and another investigator that also dies after withdrawing the amulets. Empress Wu assigns her loyal assistant Shangguan Jing'er to release the exiled Detective Dee from his imprisonment to investigate with Donglai and Jing'er the mystery of the deaths. They ride in a mystic and epic adventure to unravel the mystery. Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
I loved many of Tsui Hark's epics from the 80s/90s, but haven't seen anything from the director recently, so I probably went in with fairly neutral expectations.
This was an enjoyable ride. Like others have noted, it's comparable to a Chinese "Sherlock Holmes" (the recent Guy Ritchie version), or a movie-length, Tang-dynasty-set "CSI". Overall, it was a rather original experience - more than I can say for most movies nowadays. There are several intriguing characters and the pace and acting are solid. While the central murder mystery - whodunnit and howdunnit - is not exactly a head-scratcher, it does provide a good structure for some exciting and beautiful visuals.
Was the CGI completely up to the director's vision? Definitely not, but to naysayers, I say, loosen up! The budget for this movie is less than that of a typical Jennifer Aniston romantic comedy! I appreciated and enjoyed the whole movie enough that I wasn't overly distracted by the not-so-special effects.