Review: 'Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings Running time: 2 hours, 11 minutes. 7 out of 13 found this helpful. The ideal image of Detective Dee is far from Zhou Yi Wei's. This series with subtitles presents four mysteries untangled over about 10 episodes each. Commisioner Liu is actually the more impressive one. . Judge Dee is one of the most widely adapted and iconic ancient Chinese detective figures in popular culture. Third installment in the franchise is a technical and imaginative extravaganza of sleuthing, sorcery, and 'Game of Thrones'-like power play. A brilliant investigator incurs the wrath of a shadowy foe when he travels to a border town to tackle crimes and misdeeds on behalf of Empress Wu Zetian. The historical figure, Dee Ren Jie, served the only female emperor of. Tsui Hark's third action-comedy fantasy about the Tang dynasty-era investigator has creaky effects and a lack of logic but its energy is. Was this review. I am at episode 10 and so far, Judge Dee seems to be a passive onlooker to the whole case. Not that he isn't a great actor, after all he was so good in Rebel Princess &. Di. Can't judge a book by its cover. Overall, it's still a watchable, entertaining Chinese big budget production comparable to Hollywood standards. Dee (Di Ren Jie) set in the Tang dynasty. Playing Copyright © , Los Angeles Times | Terms. This is a historical detective drama with beautiful sets and costumes as well as intriguing cases.