Detective vs Sleuths

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 mentally disorder (Lau), who allied with elite inspector (Choi), involves into a series of murders which connected to their past cases they've once inspected, which they have to race against time to find out the truth and the mastermind behind the murders.

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[lower-alpha 1]

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

The film 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 generally critical acclaim from critics, and was nominated 11 categories at the 41st Hong Kong Film Awards, including Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Actor for Sean Lau.

Premise

Jun Lee (Lau), a former police chief inspector and elite detective in 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 happens, and a group of culprits who called themselves "The Sleuths" leaving the sneak peeks of their next murders, which connected to the cases which Jun has investigated into. Yee Chan (Choi), a fellow lieutenant inspector in OCTB, who also the only survivor in the Butcher case 17 years ago, believes Jun 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
  • Sean Lau as Jun Lee, a former police chief inspector and detective in OCTB who was expelled after experiencing hallucinations.[2]
  • Charlene Choi as Yee Chan, an senior inspector, who is also the only survivor in the Butcher case, before got promoted to chief inspector in OCTB.[2]
  • Raymond Lam as Fong Lai-shun, a chief inspector in OCTB, but he is actually a corrupted cop and the head of "The Sleuths" organisation. The real murderer of the Butcher Case and the Devil Cop Case.
  • Carman Lee as Yan Wong, Jun Lee's old colleague, Yee Chan, Fong Lai-shun and Au Yeung-kim superior.
  • Tan Kai as Au Yeung-kim, an superintendent in OCTB, was caught and threatened by "The Sleuths" organisation to admit he is the real murderer of the Butcher Case and the Devil Cop Case
  • Carlos Chan as Tsai Ka-chu, an OCTB senior inspector, but actually is a member of "The Sleuths" organisation. Chun Chi-to's son and Yeung Lai's boyfriend.
  • Kathy Yuen as Yeung Lai, an OCTB senior inspector, but actually is a member of "The Sleuths" organisation. Yu Keung's daughter and Tsai Ka-chu's girlfriend.
  • Jeana Ho as Lynn Cheung, Jun Lee's rebellious daughter, action commander of "The Sleuths" organisation.
  • Deep Ng as Chun Chi-to, a deceased from the Devil Cop Case.
  • Timmy Hung as Yu Keung, a deceased from the Butcher Case.
  • Stephanie Che as Fishmonger, one of the murderers of the Corpse Cooking Case.

Reception

Box office

Detective vs Sleuths has grossed a total of US$107.4 million worldwide combining its box office gross from Hong Kong (US$1,906,153),[3] and China (US$105.5 million).[4]

In Hong Kong, the film grossed HK$5,224,908 (US$645,603) during its first four days of release, debuting at No. 2.[5] 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.[6] 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.[7] 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.[8] Announced on August 15, 2022, the box office exceeded HK$15,000,000.[9]

Critical reception

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

Awards and nominations
Ceremony Category Recipient Results
41st Hong Kong Film Awards[10] Best Film Detective vs Sleuths TBA
Best Director Wai Ka-fai TBA
Best Screenplay Wai Ka-fai, Ryker Chan, Mak Tin Shu TBA
Best Actor Sean Lau TBA
Best Cinematography Cheng Siu-Keung TBA
Best Film Editing David Richardson, Allen Leung TBA
Best Art Direction Jean Tsoi TBA
Best Costume & Make Up Design Stanley Cheung, Pat Tang TBA
Best Action Choreography Wong Wai Leung TBA
Best Visual Effects Don Ma, Chan Wah, Specta Wong, Jacky Chung TBA
Best Sound Design Thomas Cheng, Vincent Tam, Chill Yang TBA

Notes
  1. See Box office

References
  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. "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. "Detective vs Sleuths". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
  4. "China Daily Box Office (09/07/2022)".
  5. "Hong Kong 2022 Weekend 29 July 21-24, 2022".
  6. "Hong Kong 2022 Weekend 30 July 28-31, 2022".
  7. "Hong Kong 2022 Weekend 31 August 4-7, 2022".
  8. "Hong Kong 2022 Weekend 32 August 11-14, 2022".
  9. "《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.
  10. "Nomination List of The 41st Hong Kong Film Awards".
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