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Detective vs Sleuths

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Detective vs Sleuths
Theatrical release poster
Traditional Chinese神探大戰
Simplified Chinese神探大战
Directed byWai Ka-fai
Screenplay byWai Ka-fai
Ryker Chan
Mak Tin-shu
Story byWai Ka-fai
Mak Tin-shu
Produced byWai Ka-fai
Jason Siu
Elaine Chu
StarringSean Lau
Charlene Choi
Raymond Lam
Carman Lee
CinematographyCheng Siu-keung
Edited byAllen Leung
Music byChung Chu-wing
Ben Cheung
Production
companies
Emperor Motion Pictures
Miracle Age Pictures
Super Lion Pictures
Distributed byEmperor Motion Pictures
Release dates
  • 8 July 2022 (2022-07-08) (China)
  • 21 July 2022 (2022-07-21) (Hong Kong)
Running time
102 minutes
CountryHong Kong
LanguageCantonese
Box officeUS$107.4 million[a]

Detective vs Sleuths is a 2022 Hong Kong action thriller film directed, co-written and co-produced by Wai Ka-fai, starring Sean Lau, Charlene Choi, Raymond Lam and Carman Lee.[1] The film follows a former police with a mental disorder (Lau), who works with an elite inspector (Choi) in a series of murders which are seemingly connected to past cases they've once inspected. They find themselves in a race against time to find out the truth and the mastermind behind these murders.

Originally announced in 2018, the film marks Wai's return to direct since the 2009 film Written By, and a reunion with frequent collaborator Sean Lau. Filming took place in Hong Kong and Guangzhou from 21 August 2018 to 17 December 2018, and the film entered the post-production process in April 2019.

Detective vs Sleuths was released in Hong Kong on 21 July 2022, after a postponed period due to COVID closure of Hong Kong and China theatres. The film has received critical acclaim and was won 4 of total 11 categories at the 41st Hong Kong Film Awards, including Best Director for Wai Ka-fai, Best Screenplay, Best Actor for Sean Lau and Best Cinematography, and also nominated for Best Film.

Synopsis

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Lee Jun, a former police chief inspector and elite detective in the OCTB who has been expelled from the police force, after his serious mental breakdown and ensured a chaos happened in police headquarters due to a wrongly conviction of the Butcher case and the Devil Cop case.

Years later, a series of high profile murders done by a group of culprits who called themselves the "Sleuths" who left the crime scenes with police case file numbers of previous murder cases. The Sleuths believed that they are killing the real murderers who were either not caught, police caught the wrong culprit and led to the death of the innocents, or not prosecuted by the law for medical reasons.

Lee hallucinates talking to victims and future victims of the murder cases by the Sleuths and figures out the Sleuths' next victims and locations of the crime scene, often a step ahead of the OCTB, leading to the OCTB suspecting that Lee is a member of the Sleuths. Chan, a senior inspector of the OCTB, who also the only survivor in the Butcher case 17 years ago, believes Lee is the only hope to crack the Sleuths, requests his help. The deeper they investigate of the Sleuths' motive of crime, they discover the secrets of the past cases beyond their imagination.

Cast

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  • Sean Lau as Jun Lee, a former police chief inspector and detective in the OCTB who was expelled after experiencing hallucinations.[2]

He quotes Nietzsche :Whoever battles monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster himself

  • Charlene Choi as Yee Chan, a senior inspector who is also the only survivor in the Butcher case and later got promoted to chief inspector of the OCTB.[2]
  • Raymond Lam as Fong Lai-shun, a chief inspector in OCTB.[3]
  • Carman Lee as Yan Wong, Jun Lee's old colleague, chief superintendent of the OCTB, the superior of Yee Chan, Fong Lai-shun and Au Yeung Kim.
  • Tan Kai as Au Yeung Kim, a superintendent of the OCTB.
  • Carlos Chan as Tsai Ka-chu, an OCTB senior inspector. Chun Chi-to's son and Yeung Lai's boyfriend.
  • Kathy Yuen as Yeung Lai, an OCTB senior inspector. Keung's daughter and Tsai Ka-chu's girlfriend.
  • Jeana Ho as Lynn Cheung, Jun Lee's rebellious daughter.
  • Deep Ng as Chun Chi-to, a deceased victim from the Devil Cop Case.
  • Timmy Hung as Keung, a deceased victim from the Butcher Case.
  • Stephanie Che as Fishmonger, one of the murderers in the Corpse Cooking Case.

Release

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Detective vs Sleuths was originally planned for release in December 2019 but was postponed.[4] Production company Emperor Motion Pictures did not gave any reasons for the delay.[4]

Reception

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Box office

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Detective vs Sleuths grossed a total of US$107.4 million worldwide combining its box office gross from Hong Kong (US$1,906,153),[5] and China (US$105.5 million).[6]

In Hong Kong, the film grossed HK$5,224,908 (US$645,603) during its first four days of release, debuting at No. 2.[7] The film remained at No. 2 in its second weekend, grossing HK$5,318,944 and accumulating a total gross of HK$10,543,852 (US$1,343,166) by then.[8] During its third weekend, the film grossed HK$2,999,499, moving down to No. 4, and have grossed a total of HK$13,543,351 (US$1,725,290) by then.[9] On its fourth weekend, the film grossed HK$1,396,127, coming in at No. 7, accumulating a total gross of HK$14,939,478 (US$1,906,153) so far.[10] Announced on August 15, 2022, the box office exceeded HK$15,000,000.[11]

Critical reception

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Edmund Lee of South China Morning Post gave the film three stars out of five, writing, "its relentless parade of shoot-outs and explosions also make this quite an exhausting watch".[2]

Awards and nominations

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Ceremony Category Recipient Results
41st Hong Kong Film Awards[12][13][14] Best Film Detective vs Sleuths Nominated
Best Director Wai Ka-fai Won
Best Screenplay Wai Ka-fai, Ryker Chan, Mak Tin Shu Won
Best Actor Sean Lau Won
Best Cinematography Cheng Siu-keung Won
Best Film Editing David Richardson, Allen Leung Nominated
Best Art Direction Jean Tsoi Nominated
Best Costume & Make Up Design Stanley Cheung, Pat Tang Nominated
Best Action Choreography Jack Wong Wai-leung Nominated
Best Visual Effects Don Ma, Chan Wah, Specta Wong, Jacky Chung Nominated
Best Sound Design Thomas Cheng, Vincent Tam, Chill Yang Nominated

Notes

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  1. ^ See Box office

References

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  1. ^ 許育民 (3 March 2022). "《神探大戰》海報藏韋家輝青雲作品 《大時代》《嚦咕嚦咕》上榜". 香港01. Archived from the original on 2 July 2022. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  2. ^ a b c "Detective vs Sleuths movie review: Sean Lau in wildly chaotic police thriller with urgent moral messages at its core". AsiaOne. 21 July 2022. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  3. ^ "'We were like fighting a war every day': Detective vs Sleuths' Sean Lau and Wai Ka Fai on challenges of filming the action scenes". AsiaOne. 20 July 2022. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
  4. ^ a b "Cop thrillers shunned as Hong Kong protests fuel resentment towards police". TODAY. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
  5. ^ "Detective vs Sleuths". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
  6. ^ "China Daily Box Office (09/07/2022)".
  7. ^ "Hong Kong 2022 Weekend 29 July 21-24, 2022".
  8. ^ "Hong Kong 2022 Weekend 30 July 28-31, 2022".
  9. ^ "Hong Kong 2022 Weekend 31 August 4-7, 2022".
  10. ^ "Hong Kong 2022 Weekend 32 August 11-14, 2022".
  11. ^ "《神探大戰》票房勁破1500萬💥多謝大家支持！👏🏼👏🏼". facebook (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). 神探大戰 Detective VS. Sleuths. 15 August 2022. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
  12. ^ "Nomination List of The 41st Hong Kong Film Awards".
  13. ^ "Controversial school documentary wins best picture at Hong Kong Film Awards". South China Morning Post. 16 April 2023. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
  14. ^ Shackleton, Liz (17 April 2023). "Michelle Yeoh Attends Hong Kong Film Awards As Controversial Doc Wins Best Picture; 'Detective Vs Sleuths' Wins Most Prizes". Deadline. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
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