If there’s one genre of films that I love is martial arts films and when I was growing up back east in Staten Island we would watch a film that was put on in the early afternoon. It was a crapshoot at best as they would show old monster movies and war movies but the ones that I loved were the martial arts epics. You had people rising up against incredible odds and fights that showed mastery of both fist and weapons. Now the folks over at Well Go USA have released another installment in the Detective Dee series. The film is called Detective Dee and the Four Heavenly Kingdoms but is this a case you will want to undertake?
The film is also a prequel from the first Detective Dee movie and takes place right after the events of Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon. After the events of the previous film where he was appointed to the head of the Department of Justice and given by the emperor a most precious gift…the “Dragon Taming Mace.” However, the Emperess Wu Zeitan wants to control the throne and dispatcehs Yuchi Zhenjin to head up a division of masters of sorcery to try and take the artifact from Dee. However, things are not all as they seem as another sect has moved into the city and they seem to have supernatural powers. The foes are unlike any Detective Dee has faced and he will need all of his skills and cunning to try and save the day. Without giving too much of the plot away I can assure you that this entry in the wuxia epic is amazing and has lots of great fights and creatures that will thrill and entertain audiences young and old.
The only special features on this disc are some promotional trailers as well as an original mandarin language track with english subtitles. I would have liked to see a featurette or two on how the film was made or how some of the characters were designed but this is a great film nonetheless.
If you love martial arts / wuxia style films and are a fan of Detective Dee then you need to check out this film. For more information on this and other great titles head over to http://www.wellgousa.com/ and get ready to face the forces of evil.
