Interesteg What makes it different from others?

Inadvands Boring, over-political, tech fuzed mess

SteinMo What a freaking movie. So many twists and turns. Absolutely intense from start to finish.

Taha Avalos The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

resslerama I fall squarely in the camp of those who prefer this sequel to the original... I found Detective Dee to be a better made film in the sense that the acting was strong, time was spent on character development, tighter production values, etc., but somehow it was far from satisfying to an American sensibility. The Dee character wasn't strong or clever enough, the writing didn't come to a satisfactory conclusion, and the story was poor in both pacing and structure. There was hardly any 'detective' to Detective Dee.This prequel, though lighter weight and more far-fetched in almost every other way, is at very least more entertaining. The characters are clearly drawn with obvious strengths and weaknesses, the film moves at a fast clip and yet manages to avoid being too confusing, and the first ending, the fight on Bat Island, delivers a sufficient payoff. Unfortunately Tsui Hark can't keep himself from concluding with a huge and derivative effects sequence, but at that point the film was essentially over. And don't miss the mid-credits comedy bits, cute enough to be worthwhile.

jimlacy2003 I watch a fair amount of Asian cinema so I've seen a lot. This movie really stands out!First of all the quality and quantity of special effects are very good. The interaction between the main characters, the mix of dark story lines, and the humor suburb. Overall the underlying story is interesting and compelling.It's great fantasy fun!I'm surprised this movie doesn't have a higher rating and appears to have had not much of a presence here in America. It's too bad there is no English dubbed version (not that I know off), and, or, they just didn't market it enough for a Western audience. A lot of people will probably just bump into this movie late at night at one time or another and be pleasantly surprised.If you like action movies, epic fantasy stories, etc., you are probably going to love this movie.

YJLcool Tsui Hark is back again with his latest fantasy-action-drama-adventure-thriller epic - Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon, which serves as a prequel to Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame released in 2010.The film tells how the young Dee rise to become a respectable detective for the Tang Dynasty, befriends the doctor Shaluo (similar to Sherlock Holmes and Watson) and his rival, Chief Commissioner/Detective Yuchi, unravels and solves an intriguing mystery case which involves a plot to assassinate the royal family and palace officials to overthrow the entire kingdom.In order to fully enjoy the film, it requires some suspension of disbelief from the audience for some of the fantasy or action elements shown in the film such as riding a horse underwater, 'Kraken' beast, parasites that can change a person's looks and behaviour entirely, flying around fighting in the air, etc.Although the wire-action choreography was great and well handled throughout the film, but the action scenes gets a little too much and it feels tedious to watch as the film moves on. It took away the focus of the mystery plot and a lot of potential character development required in the film. However, most of the lead and supporting actors did a fine job in portraying their character roles.The CGI has improved a lot and looked believable and realistic compared with past Chinese big budget films. Overall, it's still a watchable, entertaining Chinese big budget production comparable to Hollywood standards.

Vince Lee This is the first time i write a review at IMDb, please go easy on me, thanks! I was not expecting high on this movie because i was accompany my friend to watch it, what this movie got? High def quality in video & audio - checked! Good kungfu fighting scene - checked! Battle with sea monster(better than Pirate of the Caribbean) - checked! With these 3 factors, it already worth my money and time spent in the cinema! Acting is average among the casts, but Carina Lau definitely nailed it, WuZheTian is alive with her acting! The story is average, although it want to be like Sherlock Holmes, but the case they investigating didn't left much clue, just waiting the director to show us. Overall, it is the best Chinese WuXia film i watched in the recent years!