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Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings chinese movie review
Completed
Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings
1 people found this review helpful
by Herman
Feb 19, 2019
Completed
Overall 6.5
Story 6.0
Acting/Cast 7.0
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 4.0
I'll be honest with you, I mostly watched because it was on Netflix, I was bored, and I saw it had Sandra Ma in it. So I had little expectations going in and I think that helped make it somewhat enjoyable.

Story (6.0):
The story was never really boring and kept me mostly intrigued but neither did it have me doing much guesswork and in retrospect it wasn't special at all. It's probably a fun watch for someone who likes cheesy action flicks and is a better movie in my opinion than the likes of The Huntresses or Gods of Egypt, but is also a movie I'll be throwing into the mix with those movies as oh cool never watching that again.
While the movie doesn't get boring, I was also not super invested and there were some plot devices I thought didn't work and some things that they didn't even try to explain. I think the weirdest part of how they told the story was leaving some important closure until after the credits had started rolling. I was about to close the film, thinking that they were just going to leave the audience unsatisfied and then some after credit scenes started playing cut up by more credits and only explained a few small story ends and then it was over... I found the decision to do that entirely unnecessary but oh well.

One item I can praise this movie for is the CGI. It's not perfect and there were some fake elements, but it was a lot better than I was expecting and I'm usually a CGI snob.

Acting/Cast (7.0):
We have a good list of actors/actresses in this movie and they all perform well, just don't expect the parts to force their finest or for anything else spectacular here. As a Sandra Ma fan I was a bit disappointed with the lack luster performance from her, but it wasn't bad acting, just not much to do. The character was supposed to be a bit quirky but it came off as odd instead of the endearing General she's played you know where else. I felt similarly with the other characters. Nothing really special here. Fortunately there really wasn't any of those over acted crazy people that can be found in a lot of movies and dramas so that is a plus... well, okay one or two slightly crazy acted people but it's manageable. Think crazy old witch lady and the like.

Music (8.0):
The music was fairly decent and fit with the movie. I even listened to the whole end credits song. Nothing Hans Zimmerlike but it was good orchestration.

Rewatch Value (4.0):
As with many lackluster films, I doubt I'll ever watch this one again, but I can't say I'm sad I watched it.

Overall (6.5):
If you're bored and would like to waste an evening in dubious fun, have at it. It's actually a fair bit better than a lot of other Asian B movies like The Huntresses or Bounty Hunters but you're not getting a super quality film either. That said, the effects are surprisingly good and you'll have a smile or two with some minimal guesswork. Have at it.
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