For a long time, Chinese films have been interested in establishing Intellectual Property (IP) series with room of development. The so-called sequel film series with long-running has actually been common in the golden age of Hong Kong Cinema in the 1980s and 1990s. Until recent years, the booming development of the Mainland China film industry has made this trend more expansion capacity. For example, "The Journey to the West" series of Stephen Chow or Cheang Pou-soi was once a smash hit. However, as an original IP series, Chen Sicheng's "Detective Chinatown" definitely occupies a place. Because of the background of Chinatowns around the world, coupled with the theme of deductive detectives, the series has a unique international color.
Chen Sichang's directing career started with "Beijing Love Story", which he directed and acted. He became a director from an actor, and then went to the United States for exchanges. At the same time, there was another famous director, Ning Hao ("Crazy Stone"). After returning to China, "Detective Chinatown" was released in 2015, starring Wang Baoqiang and Liu Haoran, and filming in Thailand. Wang Baoqiang who was in a low ebb, and Liu Haoran who just debuted, became popular, finally received 820 million yuan (125 million US dollar). "Detective Chinatown" from character setting to plot development, layout, etc., shows the director's talent and skills. In a secret room stealing gold murder case, Tang Ren played by Wang Baoqiang became the suspect, and his cousin Qin Feng played by Liu Haoran was involved in it. One is an uncle who is known as a "magic detective", and the other is a talented detective boy who failed to apply for the criminal police examination. The two finally solved the mystery, leaving behind the mysterious girl Snow played by Zhang Zifeng. The success of the first episode made the production scale of "Detective Chinatown 2" jump several steps. It was scheduled to be released in the Spring Festival in 2018. The film was shot in Chinatown, New York. In order to investigate the murder of his grandson, Uncle Severn, the godfather of Chinatown, played by Kenneth Tsang, detective masters from all over the world are recruited, and the detective world of "Crimaster" officially debuts. Qin Feng is the second on the list, the first is Q who did not show up, and Noda Hiroshi from Japan, played by Satoshi Tsumabuki and Shang Yuxian played the female hacker Kiko, while in the first episode, Xiao Yang played the Thai police officer Kon Tai, and in the second episode played Song Yi. The second episode was quite ambitious, and the IP later known as "Detective Chinatown Universe" was established, and the game of tracking who was Q officially began. Among them, the Taoist temple where the serial killers are in the hospital's killing base reminiscent of the Taiwan film "Double Vision", which was directed by Chen Kuo-fu and starred by Tony Leung Ka Fai. It borrowed the mysterious color of Taoism and played with magic charm and supernatural powers.
"Detective Chinatown 3" foreshadowed that Q's identity would be revealed. It was originally planned to be released in the Spring Festival in 2020, but it was forced to delay due to the epidemic. In the end, it was delayed for a full year. It was released in 2021's Spring Festival, and it was a big hit immediately. Although it was chased by "Hi, Mom" later, it still ranked second in the Chinese New Year box office list with 4.4 billion yuan (670 million US dollar). Although "Detective Chinatown 3" was a big hit, it received a lot of bad reviews, especially the much-anticipated identity of Q, turned out to be a dark organization, which disappointed many fans. But the most deadly thing is that comparing the first and second episodes, the layout of this mystery case is relatively pale. This time, Chen Sicheng purely made the "Detective Chinatown" series into a Chinese New Year's film, and the stars were shining. This time the film returns to Japan in Asia. Satoshi Tsumabuki plays Noda Hiroshi invites Qin Feng and Tang Ren to Tokyo to investigate a murder case in a secret room. It is quite the color of the famous Japanese animation "Detective Conan", and also brings out thirteen kinds of murder cases in a secret room. The two gang leaders talked and reconciled in a secret room in a lake. One of the leaders was killed, and Watanabe Masaru played by Miura Tomokazu became a murder suspect. He asked Noda Hiroshi to track down the real murderer. The secretary of the slain gangster, Kobayashi Anna played by Nagasawa Masami, Asano Tadanobu as a Japanese police officer Naoki Tanaka, who was later revealed to be one of Q's members, and Sometani Shota also played the role of Murate Akira, a rapist used by Q, and a female judge Kawamura Yoshiko's Suzuki Honami gather superstars from different generations in Japan, as well as action superstar Tony Jaa who plays a Thai detective, star-studded, even local productions in Japan may not have such a lineup, no wonder the film is also in Japan, received some attention.
As for a number of characters in "Detective Chinatown Universe", this time they have gathered together, including Snow in the first episode, Koki and Song Yi in the second episode, and the online drama "Detective Chinatown", Roy Chiu as Tang Ren's great disciple Lin Mo, the "Five Soul Boys" detective team and Ivy played by Janine Chang Chun-ning, and finally Andy Lau cameos, laying the fourth episode of the volt line, the location is one of the origins of "Detective Conan", Sherlock Holmes' London, England. When it comes to the animation "Detective Conan", the protagonist Conan Edogawa is from the Japanese detective novelist Edogawa Ranpo and the British novelist "Sherlock Holmes" author Arthur Conan Doyle, while Edogawa Ranpo is the originator of Japanese Authentic Detective Novel, the so-called Authentic Detective Novel is purely for the purpose of solving the mystery and finding out who the murderer is. Compared with the Social Detective Novel represented by Matsumoto Seicho, the elements of social realism are added, as a difference. The "Detective Chinatown" series combines the elements of the two major factions. In the publicity, "Detective Chinatown 3" is under the banner of Authentic, which is also a disappointment for many fans of Authentic. On the contrary, "Detective Chinatown 2" is more structurally, it has the color of Authentic, challenges the audience/reader to find the real murderer, and achieves the reasoning performance of Authentic. When "Detective Chinatown 3" exposes the true murderer, it exposes the relationship between Watanabe Masaru and Kobayashi Anna. Social Detective Novel's style, coupled with wartime orphans and East Asian gangs, etc., the social topics that have been controversial in Japan in recent years have a certain degree of "social realism".
Howere, back to the question of "Detective Chinatown Universe", in "Detective Chinatown 3", many large-scale chases and action scenes, firstly it showed Chen Sicheng's ability to handle big scenes, and it started with a long take nonsense fighting scene at Tokyo Airport. In terms of technology and scene scheduling, they have achieved excellent performance. At the same time, the director also set the tone of the Chinese New Year film type for "Detective Chinatown 3", and there will be many chase scenes on the streets of Tokyo, including cosplay parades. The cartoonist Shin Kibayashi from the animation "The Kindaichi Case Files" also made a cameo appearance, interpreting his classic line "I swear in the name of my grandfather". This kind of piecing together reminds people of many Hong Kong-made Chinese New Year films. The comments criticizing these Chinese New Year films, such as "pilling up nonsense", have also been used by many Mainland movie fans. However, the style displayed in "Detective Chinatown 3", in addition to the star-studded scenes of international major productions, in a huge scene; "Detective Chinatown Universe", the good and evil characters, combined with two episode of films and online dramas, combine to form a sustainable film and television IP, the story behind Qin Feng's father, the identity of Snow, and characters such as Lin Mo, as well as constantly expanding creative space, the most important thing is the audience accumulated from the three episodes of film and online dramas, and their collective memory of the characters. These are not the same as the Chinese New Year films of that year. As an audience, I am very much looking forward to the fourth episode. There is no suspense, Andy Lau will be the main member of Q, no longer just a supporting role in "Detective Chinatown 3", who sings New Year songs for publicity.
By Kam Po LAM (original in Chinese)
Chen Sichang's directing career started with "Beijing Love Story", which he directed and acted. He became a director from an actor, and then went to the United States for exchanges. At the same time, there was another famous director, Ning Hao ("Crazy Stone"). After returning to China, "Detective Chinatown" was released in 2015, starring Wang Baoqiang and Liu Haoran, and filming in Thailand. Wang Baoqiang who was in a low ebb, and Liu Haoran who just debuted, became popular, finally received 820 million yuan (125 million US dollar). "Detective Chinatown" from character setting to plot development, layout, etc., shows the director's talent and skills. In a secret room stealing gold murder case, Tang Ren played by Wang Baoqiang became the suspect, and his cousin Qin Feng played by Liu Haoran was involved in it. One is an uncle who is known as a "magic detective", and the other is a talented detective boy who failed to apply for the criminal police examination. The two finally solved the mystery, leaving behind the mysterious girl Snow played by Zhang Zifeng. The success of the first episode made the production scale of "Detective Chinatown 2" jump several steps. It was scheduled to be released in the Spring Festival in 2018. The film was shot in Chinatown, New York. In order to investigate the murder of his grandson, Uncle Severn, the godfather of Chinatown, played by Kenneth Tsang, detective masters from all over the world are recruited, and the detective world of "Crimaster" officially debuts. Qin Feng is the second on the list, the first is Q who did not show up, and Noda Hiroshi from Japan, played by Satoshi Tsumabuki and Shang Yuxian played the female hacker Kiko, while in the first episode, Xiao Yang played the Thai police officer Kon Tai, and in the second episode played Song Yi. The second episode was quite ambitious, and the IP later known as "Detective Chinatown Universe" was established, and the game of tracking who was Q officially began. Among them, the Taoist temple where the serial killers are in the hospital's killing base reminiscent of the Taiwan film "Double Vision", which was directed by Chen Kuo-fu and starred by Tony Leung Ka Fai. It borrowed the mysterious color of Taoism and played with magic charm and supernatural powers.
"Detective Chinatown 3" foreshadowed that Q's identity would be revealed. It was originally planned to be released in the Spring Festival in 2020, but it was forced to delay due to the epidemic. In the end, it was delayed for a full year. It was released in 2021's Spring Festival, and it was a big hit immediately. Although it was chased by "Hi, Mom" later, it still ranked second in the Chinese New Year box office list with 4.4 billion yuan (670 million US dollar). Although "Detective Chinatown 3" was a big hit, it received a lot of bad reviews, especially the much-anticipated identity of Q, turned out to be a dark organization, which disappointed many fans. But the most deadly thing is that comparing the first and second episodes, the layout of this mystery case is relatively pale. This time, Chen Sicheng purely made the "Detective Chinatown" series into a Chinese New Year's film, and the stars were shining. This time the film returns to Japan in Asia. Satoshi Tsumabuki plays Noda Hiroshi invites Qin Feng and Tang Ren to Tokyo to investigate a murder case in a secret room. It is quite the color of the famous Japanese animation "Detective Conan", and also brings out thirteen kinds of murder cases in a secret room. The two gang leaders talked and reconciled in a secret room in a lake. One of the leaders was killed, and Watanabe Masaru played by Miura Tomokazu became a murder suspect. He asked Noda Hiroshi to track down the real murderer. The secretary of the slain gangster, Kobayashi Anna played by Nagasawa Masami, Asano Tadanobu as a Japanese police officer Naoki Tanaka, who was later revealed to be one of Q's members, and Sometani Shota also played the role of Murate Akira, a rapist used by Q, and a female judge Kawamura Yoshiko's Suzuki Honami gather superstars from different generations in Japan, as well as action superstar Tony Jaa who plays a Thai detective, star-studded, even local productions in Japan may not have such a lineup, no wonder the film is also in Japan, received some attention.
As for a number of characters in "Detective Chinatown Universe", this time they have gathered together, including Snow in the first episode, Koki and Song Yi in the second episode, and the online drama "Detective Chinatown", Roy Chiu as Tang Ren's great disciple Lin Mo, the "Five Soul Boys" detective team and Ivy played by Janine Chang Chun-ning, and finally Andy Lau cameos, laying the fourth episode of the volt line, the location is one of the origins of "Detective Conan", Sherlock Holmes' London, England. When it comes to the animation "Detective Conan", the protagonist Conan Edogawa is from the Japanese detective novelist Edogawa Ranpo and the British novelist "Sherlock Holmes" author Arthur Conan Doyle, while Edogawa Ranpo is the originator of Japanese Authentic Detective Novel, the so-called Authentic Detective Novel is purely for the purpose of solving the mystery and finding out who the murderer is. Compared with the Social Detective Novel represented by Matsumoto Seicho, the elements of social realism are added, as a difference. The "Detective Chinatown" series combines the elements of the two major factions. In the publicity, "Detective Chinatown 3" is under the banner of Authentic, which is also a disappointment for many fans of Authentic. On the contrary, "Detective Chinatown 2" is more structurally, it has the color of Authentic, challenges the audience/reader to find the real murderer, and achieves the reasoning performance of Authentic. When "Detective Chinatown 3" exposes the true murderer, it exposes the relationship between Watanabe Masaru and Kobayashi Anna. Social Detective Novel's style, coupled with wartime orphans and East Asian gangs, etc., the social topics that have been controversial in Japan in recent years have a certain degree of "social realism".
Howere, back to the question of "Detective Chinatown Universe", in "Detective Chinatown 3", many large-scale chases and action scenes, firstly it showed Chen Sicheng's ability to handle big scenes, and it started with a long take nonsense fighting scene at Tokyo Airport. In terms of technology and scene scheduling, they have achieved excellent performance. At the same time, the director also set the tone of the Chinese New Year film type for "Detective Chinatown 3", and there will be many chase scenes on the streets of Tokyo, including cosplay parades. The cartoonist Shin Kibayashi from the animation "The Kindaichi Case Files" also made a cameo appearance, interpreting his classic line "I swear in the name of my grandfather". This kind of piecing together reminds people of many Hong Kong-made Chinese New Year films. The comments criticizing these Chinese New Year films, such as "pilling up nonsense", have also been used by many Mainland movie fans. However, the style displayed in "Detective Chinatown 3", in addition to the star-studded scenes of international major productions, in a huge scene; "Detective Chinatown Universe", the good and evil characters, combined with two episode of films and online dramas, combine to form a sustainable film and television IP, the story behind Qin Feng's father, the identity of Snow, and characters such as Lin Mo, as well as constantly expanding creative space, the most important thing is the audience accumulated from the three episodes of film and online dramas, and their collective memory of the characters. These are not the same as the Chinese New Year films of that year. As an audience, I am very much looking forward to the fourth episode. There is no suspense, Andy Lau will be the main member of Q, no longer just a supporting role in "Detective Chinatown 3", who sings New Year songs for publicity.
By Kam Po LAM (original in Chinese)