Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame

Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame (狄仁杰之通天帝國 - Di renjie: Tong tian di guo) is a 2010 Chinese-Hong Kong co-production. The titular character is loosely based on the real-life Tang Dynasty magistrate Di Renjie, who also inspired the Judge Dee novels and short stories. The film is not based on those novels however, and relies primarily on Wuxia action.

The plot takes place shortly before the ascension of Wu Zetian, China's first female emperor, to the throne. An enormous Buddha statue is being built for the occasion when the director of its construction mysteriously bursts into flames and dies. The investigators are baffled until Wu Zetian calls on Detective Dee, a man whom she imprisoned eight years previously for opposing her rule. With the Empress' agent Shangguan Jing'er and cop Pei Dongling, Dee has until the coronation starts to solve the mystery of the phantom flame.

Tropes used in Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame include:

• Absurdly Spacious Sewer: The Ghost City is supposed to be what remains of the original city, which sank into the ground as centuries went by. But it looks like a maze of giant underground canyons.
• Action Girl: Jing'Er.
• Anti-Villain: The Empress gives China peace, order, and prosperity - the hard way.
• Artistic License Ships: The ships in the Luoyang harbor look unrealistic for the time period.
• Bittersweet Ending: Dee's heart has found peace, but his love-interest and Cowboy Cop partner are killed, his best friend betrayed him, and the less-than-virtuous Empress Wu Zetian has succeeded the throne. Oh, and he can't go outside in the sun ever again, or else he'll burst into flames!
• Black and Grey Morality: Wu Zetian is hardly a virtuous ruler, and none knows it better than Dee, who has spent eight years in jail for opposing her rule. But the conspirators are worse.
• Blind Idiot Translation: The English subtitles leave much to be desired. Pei describes the Ghost City as "A spooky pandemonium." Um, what?
• Bodyguard Crush: Jing'Er is quite devoted to Wu Zetian.
• Calling Your Attacks: Dee wielding his sword-breaking mace.
• Chekhov's Gun: A 66 yard tall one.
• Conspicuous CGI: Occasionally. The Transformation Sequence comes to mind.
• Costume Porn: Dear lord, the Empress!
• Dangerously Close Shave: When Dee hands Jing'er a razor and asks her to give him a shave, she obviously considers slicing his throat. Dee has to shake her out of it by telling her "My beard is up here".
• Dead Man Writing: The last clue, a buckle indicating where an important document has been hidden, is given to Dee by a dying man.
• Deadpan Snarker: Dee, of course. Dongling occasionally strays into this territory when he's teasing Jing'er.
• Determinator: After getting impaled multiple times by spring-loaded javelins, Jing'er still manages to drag a grown man into the tree tops to hide, then survive the long journey on horseback to the palace before finally bleeding to death.
• Doomed by Canon: Whoever started the plot has zero chance of succeeding, because history records that Wu Zetian did indeed become Empress of China.
• Dwindling Party: By the time the movie ends only a handful of named characters survive.
• Everything's Better with Spinning: Dee's mace has a rotating part which allows him to break metal when spun.
• Exotic Detective
• Femme Fatale: The Empress. Possibly Jing'er.
• Genre Roulette: Wuxia kung-fu movie, historical drama, noir detective film, political thriller, or absurdist comedy?
• God Save Us From the Queen: Although the entire movie hinges on Dee's efforts to protect the Empress, she is arguably as big of a villain as the assassins.
• Great Detective: Dee is based on an actual historical figure, but his status as an ancient Chinese Sherlock Holmes comes out of Dutch writer Robert van Gulik's Judge Dee stories.
• Heroic Albino: Pei Dongling is this, albeit leaning to Anti-Hero rather than straight hero.
• Historical Domain Character: Di Renjie and Wu Zetian were real people, and Jing'er is based on a real person. Probably none of them were capable of Wire Fu in real life, however.
• Interesting Situation Duel: A duel in an underground lake, for starters. Dee's fight with Shatuo where he can't be in the sunlight or he'll burst into flame.
• Impossibly Cool Weapon: Dee's mace has a rotating part which generates vibrations which allow him to find the weak point in an opponent's weapon as he sweeps it along the blade, so that he can strike there and break it. The mace was given to him by the previous Emperor, and symbolizes his role as a detective and truth-finder.
  • Also the flying chainsaw robot (it's actually a puppet).
• Large Ham: The cop from the beginning. Also the unfortunate reader in the morgue.
• Man On Fire: The "phantom flame".
• Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: The whole movie veers between rational historical fiction, and its own special brand of very, very weird.
• Monumental Damage / Weaponized Landmark: If more than half a kilometer of statue-shaped metal doesn't count, nothing does.
• Obfuscating Disability: Dee fakes being blind while in prison.
• Perfect Poison: Since it causes you to spontaneously combust, there's not much forensic evidence left behind.
• Poisoned Weapons: Dee and Jing'er are attacked with a bevvy of poisoned arrows which provide an important clue.
• Punny Name: Donkey Wang. Yes. Technically, it's Dr. Donkey Wang.
• Redemption Equals Death: Shangguan Jing'er.
• Recycled in Space: Could be described as "Sherlock Holmes IN CHINA". Wu Zetian even acts a lot like Queen Victoria does in such stories.
• Sinister Minister: The mysterious Chaplain, who apparently doubles as both a prophet and assassin for the Empress.
• Slap Slap Kiss: Dee and Jing'er, almost as soon as he's out of prison. A subversion, as this is staged as a way of getting close to him, which of course he sees right through.
• Spontaneous Human Combustion: The Phantom Flame. Of course, careful investigation shows that it's not at all spontaneous.
• Theres No Kill Like Overkill: The number of arrows fired at Dee and Jing'er would sink a boat.
• Unresolved Sexual Tension: Jing'Er with virtually everyone. But mainly Dee.
• Voluntary Shapeshifting: An important plot point hinges on a certain acupressure point that allows you to completely alter the shape of your face.
• We Have Reserves: The Empress tells Jing'er that to get power and stay in power you have to be willing to sacrifice anyone. Anyone.
• White-Haired Pretty Boy: Pei Dongling.
• Wholesome Crossdresser: Jing'Er is the High Priest.
• Wire Fu: How most characters get around.
  • In-universe, the heroes fight what looks like a flying robot with buzzsaws. It's revealed that it's actually a puppet, and they attack the wires holding it up.
• Wuxia: A fine modern example.
• You Have 48 Hours: Dee has until the coronation to solve the crime.