Director Johnny To’s previous flicks are slicker affairs, but there’s still plenty here to please the fans.
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07/15/08
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Mad Detective (2008)
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Reviews Counted:18
Fresh:15
Rotten:3
Average Rating:6.6/10
Theatrical Release:Jul 18, 2008 Limited
Starring: Ka Tung Lam, Lau Ching-Wan, Jay Lau, Kelly Lin
Director: Johnnie To, Wai Kar-Fai
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Reviews for Mad Detective
1 - 18 (sorted by fresh rating)
Cleverly scripted, brilliantly acted and masterfully edited, Mad Detective explores the very human capacity to lose one's moral centre in a crisis.
08/09/08
The prolific Johnny To and his occasional collaborator Wai Ka Fai here put a new twist on the standard police yarn.
09/29/07
A freewheeling narrative that twists around its central themes with manic intensity.
07/18/08
Even if you lose track of who's shooting whom and why during the abstract climactic face-off, the clever last shot shows you're not alone.
07/16/08
Top CriticAnother very, very solid crime drama from Johnnie To and Wai Ka-fai.
09/15/07
Every moment in Mad Detective seems engineered for maximum oddity; it almost becomes overwhelming...Yet the movie feels adventuresome, too, a new bridge to Asia’s soulful ghost canon. It’s a metaphysical mystery masquerading as a doodle.
07/16/08
More comical than compelling, but what do you expect of a chopsocky revolving around a head case of a hero begging to be buried alive in order to channel his psychic powers?
07/21/08
If the insanely inventive and entertaining Mad Detective weren’t so weird -- and in Cantonese -- hordes of action geeks would be lining the block to see it.
07/18/08
To and Ka-fai's widescreen lensing is both elegant and sharp, its distorted angles and flaring white lights generating a sense of unease that complements Bun's instability and Chi-Wai's fractured self.
07/15/08
Fleeting confusion and bizarre literalization aside, Mad Detective is an effective mystery story, with an oddball hero -- like TV's Monk, but far crazier -- and some moments of visceral violence that raise the stakes.
07/17/08
It may make no sense to throw logic out the window, but that’s exactly what makes Detective such an unhinged blast.
07/16/08
Expect an inferior American remake within five years.
09/26/08
A stylishly funky Hong Kong thriller from cult director Johnnie To and co-writer/codirector Wai Ka Fai.
08/08/08
Mad Detective doesn't always make sense, and you cannot always tell what is real and what is imaginary, but viewers will be having too much zonked-out fun to care.
07/18/08
too cluttered to be engrossing or even entertaining
07/17/08
Interminable and pointless virtually from start to finish...
10/27/07
Direction lacks the strong hand of To's solo efforts, and pic shows some signs of rush, with abrupt transitions and lack of flow in the editing.
09/10/07
1 - 18 (sorted by fresh rating)
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