What do you get when a historical detective story meets wuxia action, imperial intrigue, and giant sea monsters?
The Detective Dee movies.
The character is based on Di Renjie, a real Tang dynasty official who later became the subject of fictional detective stories. Tsui Hark’s films take that historical figure and build an entirely different kind of mystery around him, where solving a case can mean following clues through an imperial court one moment and fighting masked assassins the next.
Two films on Amasian TV, Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon and Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings, offer a good introduction to this version of the character.
1. Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon
2013 | Directed by Tsui Hark | Starring Mark Chao, William Feng, Angelababy, and Carina Lau
Set in AD 665, Rise of the Sea Dragon follows a young Dee as he arrives in Luoyang to join the imperial Justice Department. His timing isn’t great. A naval fleet has been attacked by what appears to be a massive sea monster, and Empress Wu has given the authorities only ten days to solve the mystery.
Mark Chao plays Dee as a younger, more confident version of the detective. He’s constantly observing people, remembering details, and finding connections that other investigators overlook. His rivalry with Yuchi Zhenjin, played by William Feng, gives the investigation another layer, with the two men repeatedly finding themselves on opposite sides of the same case.
Then things get considerably stranger.
The investigation brings Dee into contact with assassins who seem capable of moving through the water, mysterious creatures, palace intrigue, and a plot surrounding Yin Ruiji, the imperial capital’s most famous courtesan. The movie uses its detective premise as a gateway into the kind of elaborate fantasy action Tsui Hark is known for.
2. Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings
2018 | Directed by Tsui Hark | Starring Mark Chao, William Feng, Lin Gengxin, Ethan Juan, Ma Sichun, and Carina Lau
The Four Heavenly Kings brings Dee back into the middle of another dangerous case, this time involving Empress Wu and a mysterious crime wave spreading through the city.
Dee is accused of wrongdoing by Wu while strange, seemingly supernatural events begin piling up around him. The official synopsis describes the film as a wuxia fantasy, and that’s an important distinction: the mystery is surrounded by martial arts, mysticism, elaborate weapons, and creatures that could never appear in a conventional historical detective story.
The film also shows just how far Tsui Hark pushes the visual side of the series. A giant albino gorilla, masked assassins, elaborate combat sequences, and supernatural imagery all become part of Dee’s investigation. Even critics who found the mystery itself less convincing noted the film’s constant energy and inventive action.
Where the detective story meets wuxia
That’s really the appeal of these movies.
The Detective Dee films don’t separate the investigation from the action. A clue can lead directly into a fight, while a fight can reveal something about the mystery. Dee’s intelligence matters, but he also has to survive a world filled with skilled fighters, political enemies, and seemingly impossible phenomena.
Tsui Hark’s approach also gives the historical setting a very different feel. The Tang dynasty provides the costumes, architecture, court politics, and political conflicts, while wuxia allows the filmmakers to turn that world into something much more fantastical.
So if you go into Detective Dee expecting a straightforward period crime story, you’re going to get something considerably stranger.
And that’s the fun of it.
If you’re looking for Chinese movies that combine mystery, martial arts, historical drama, and fantasy, Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon and Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings are an easy pairing to start with.
