DETECTIVE VS. SLEUTHS

Official Selection, Fantasia International Film Festival

Frequent Johnnie To collaborator Wai Ka Fai returns from a 15 year pause to gleefully press Play. For Wai, this means flexing an arsenal of action muscle memory—heavy bloodshed with a heart of gold. Absurdity served with a straight face. Maximal climaxes that yodel, “more is more is more!” Aka the best kind of fun.

Former legend, now disgraced detective Jun needs to redeem himself. You see, he has never been wrong. He has an uncanny ability to solve crimes, especially cold cases. But after one disastrous press conference kicks him to the curb and out of a job, notorious criminals from his unsolved caseload are turning up dead… knocked off in more ways than one. Turns out, vigilantes known as the Chosen Sleuths are settling old scores. With the clock ticking, Jun desperately wracks his fragile mind to catch the new perps while a snazzily dressed (but very fishy) police force becomes a perfect excuse for Wai’s gymnastic shootouts in Hong Kong’s maze of night markets, apartments, and… caves?

With its almost-family-reunion of talent, DETECTIVE VS. SLEUTHS is the iconic Mad Detective’s loony cousin. And as the film swerves to camp in a way that only a Wai-Ka Fai movie can, superstar Lau Ching Wan shines as our yellow raincoat-loving North Star, balancing between blubbery and solid, switching personas on a dime from earnest cop to sniveling miscreant. And wait! There may or may not be an OMG pregnant detective moment? And possibly a demon? Grab your shrimp chips, cover your right eye, and let DETECTIVE VS. SLEUTHS pulverize disbelief with this wildly entertaining bullet ballet.

—Christina Ree

Co-Presented by The Hong Konger Club.