Detective Dee: Mystery of the Phantom Flame -- based on the classic Chinese folk hero Judge Dee (AKA Di Renjie, Judge Di, and Detective Dee) -- was a major box office and critical success for Tsui Hark. It's common for Hong Kong film-makers to quickly hop on to opportunities and hot properties, and Tsui is no exception. Not being one to rest on his laurels, the producer/writer/director set about right away to follow up his hit with the prequel Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon. On the surface, the production misses out on having Andy Lau as the lead actor, but, in the end, Tsui's visually-rich storytelling more than makes up for the lack of star power.

Played here by Mark Chao, Dee is tasked by the Empress (Carina Lau, reprising her award winning role from the first film) to find the cause of a series of mysterious sea attacks. The initial thoughts point towards wizardry or lack of adherence to superstitions unleashing the fury of a mythical creature. Using his knowledge of science, Dee sees a more realistic and nefarious cause behind the attacks -- but will he be able to prove his theories before the Empress grows impatient and orders Dee to go under the executioner's blade?

Taken as a mystery, Young Detective Dee isn't exactly heavy viewing material, coming off more like CSI: Tang 1750 than Sherlock Holmes. Basically, Dee see some form of evidence, we get a fancy CGI-enhanced shot of what it proves, and then Dee gets into a fight to hold on to the evidence. For a character that is so cerebral, frankly, this is -- for the most part -- a brainless movie. This is the sort of picture that depends more on a visual spectacle, rather than deep meditation, to provide its' interest. That is not meant as a slam or knock on Tsui's abilities as a director. Tsui's output has always gone between different realms, from serious artistic fare to pop entertainment -- and this film definitely falls on the latter end of that spectrum.

Young Detective Dee isn't totally lacking weight, though. Carina Lau again delivers a great performance as the Empress, and William Feng nearly steals the show on his own playing Dee's rival, Yuchi Zhenjin. Not exactly a friend or enemy to Dee, Feng's take on the character is full of nuances that hold audience's attention, being a nice (and much needed) counter point to some of the more, shall we say, lackadaisical work from some of the other actors, most notably model turned actor AngelaBaby, who seems forever destined to be a "jade vase" in the Chinese film world.

RATING: 7