This week, we continue Mystery Month with the 2010 wire-fu historical action flick Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame! In 7th century China, in the wake of a series of mysterious spontaneous combustions, Detective Dee (Andy Lau) is brought in to stop an assassination attempt of Empress Wu on the eve of her coronation. Director Tsui Hark and fight director Sammo Hung provide some great wire-fu action sequences among the convoluted plot that is typical of these kinds of Chinese epic modern films.
Despite the sometimes-confusing nature of the plot and the dry characters, there’s plenty of great action choreography and some insane images (watch for some deer-on-man kung fu action) to make it worth a watch. It’s available on Netflix, so be sure to watch with our review and drinking game below!
LISTEN HERE OR DOWNLOAD:
THIS EPISODE’S DRINK: The Deer Punter
2 parts torched cherry-flavored rum (Bacardi)
1 part cinnamon spiced whiskey (e.g. Fireball)
1 part red apple juice
2 parts red bell pepper juice
1 part spicy ginger beer
Cinnamon bitters
Combine and stir.
RULES:
- Anytime you see ropes and/or chains
- Whenever you see extensive CGI backgrounds
- Whenever someone says the word “Empress”
FINISH YOUR DRINK WHEN:
Dee says, “Shatuo… Do you still remember Donkey Wang?”
Join us next week as we leap forward to the 1990s and solve the mystery of the superhero comedy Mystery Men!
