Summary
The third entry in this blockbuster Chinese series has a ridiculous amount of fun being ridiculous, and is a welcome return of some old friends.
Originally slated for the start of 2020, DETECTIVE CHINATOWN 3 (唐人街探案 3) was to be one of the films that led Chinese audiences into the Year of the Rat. Yet on the eve of its release, cinemas started closing down as the impact of the Coronavirus was becoming apparent. Now over a year later, it’s among a handful of films that are leading the charge for China’s box office revival.
Picking up not long after Detective Chinatown 2 left off, brilliant young detective Qin Feng (Liu Haoran) arrives with his ‘distant relative’ Tang Ren (Wang Baoqiang) arrive in Tokyo hot on the heels of a new locked room mystery. Helping out their Japanese rival Hiroshi Noda (Satoshi Tsumabuki) and joined by the top ranked Thai investigator Tony (Tony Jaa), they race against the clock to find the answers while being manipulated by the dubiously named ‘Q.’
Making the most of the Tokyo locales immediately, series director Chen Sicheng doesn’t lean too heavily into the ‘fish out of water’ motif as he did in the previous entry. Indeed, it begins with an all-out airport melee that comes out of nowhere and sets the tone for the rest of the film. As the titles drop over a chase using the city’s famous Mario Karts, you know this isn’t going to get off the well-photographed city’s beaten tracks anytime soon. It doesn’t — and that’s just one of the strangely comforting things about Chen’s film.
The comedy is as broad as ever, of course, from the simplicity of a cosplay parade to a vomiting sequence on a boat. Much of the rest launches from Tang Ren’s relentlessly horny antics, including one clue based on knowledge of ’36D’ breasts. The double-edged sword is that the same vein of humour is notoriously rife with casual prejudice. Jaa refers to anyone who doesn’t meet his measure of manhood as “sissy,” for example. It was also fairly questionable naming the evil organisation Q, especially given the timing of the release. Read the room, folks!
The mostly Japanese supporting cast and cameos are a welcome addition, especially Masami Nagasawa who holds together much of the emotional subplot in the final act of the film. Tomokazu Miura plays to type as a stoic mafia boss, and Tadanobu Asano (as a super cop) is always welcome. A courtroom motif and a ‘universal translator’ conceit allows for a pleasingly chaotic interaction with most of the cast members.
Perhaps inspired by the community spirit of his UFO segment in last year’s My People, My Homeland — or just happy to celebrate large groups of people again — Chen ends on a truly bizarre feel-good singalong set to Michael Jackson’s ‘Heal the World.’ What was I saying about not reading the room? Yet these films are designed for box office gold, after all, and shameless pandering can always be forgiven in the denouement.
At the time of writing, DETECTIVE CHINATOWN 3 is already the fifth highest grossing non-English language film of all time. As the audience is once again teased with a future entry, with a mid-credits cameo from another powerhouse star of Asian cinema, it’s safe to say we’ll be heading back onto the road with this money making franchise sooner rather than later. Global health crises notwithstanding.
2021 | China | DIRECTOR: Chen Sicheng | WRITERS: Chen Sicheng, Wusi Liu, Nomy Xu, Yining Yan, Chun Zhang, Lian Zhou | CAST: Wang Baoqiang, Liu Haoran, Satoshi Tsumabuki, Tony Jaa, Masami Nagasawa | DISTRIBUTOR: Madman Films (AUS), Wanda Pictures | RUNNING TIME: 136 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 13 February 2021 (AUS/US)
