Detective Chinatown

Detective Chinatown
Theatrical release poster
Chinese 唐人街探案
Directed by Chen Sicheng
Starring
Music by Nathan Wang
Production
companies
Distributed by China Lion Film Distribution
Golden Village Pictures
MM2 Entertainment
GEM Entertainment
Wuzhou Film Distribution[1]
Release date
  • 31 December 2015 (2015-12-31)
Running time
 136 minutes[2]
Country China
Language Mandarin
Budget US$15 million[3]
Box office US$126 million[4]

Detective Chinatown (Chinese: 唐人街探案) is a 2015 Chinese comedy-mystery buddy film directed by Chen Sicheng and starring Wang Baoqiang and Liu Haoran.[5] It was released in China on 31 December 2015.[6] A sequel, titled Detective Chinatown 2, was released in February 2018.

Plot

After being rejected from the police college, Qin Feng (Liu Haoran) goes to Bangkok for a vacation. He plans to spend time with his "uncle" Tang Ren (Wang Baoqiang) who is reputed to be the number one detective of Chinatown in Bangkok. Tang Ren turns out to be a sleazy petty swindler who happens to be an underling of local incompetent police sergeant Kon Tai (Xiao Yang). Meanwhile, the main suspect in a local gold robbery case, Sompat, is murdered and the gold goes missing. The gold belongs to prominent local gangster Mr. Yan (Chin Shih-chieh). Kon Tai and his rival in the police department, the ambitious Huang Landeng (Chen He) are put into competition to solve the crime with the person who solves the crime and retrieves the gold to be appointed the next deputy Chief.

Tang Ren becomes implicated as the main suspect in Sompat's murder as he is the last person to enter the premises where Sompat is murdered. He is sought by Sompat's cohorts who wish to locate the now lost gold. Tang is also sought by Mr. Yan's gang and the local police as he is supposedly the only person who knows where the gold is. Tang seeks Qin's help who turns out to be a prodigy in solving crimes from the knowledge Qin garnered as a mystery novel lover.

As they follow leads to find Sompat's actual killer, they come across Snow (Zhang Zifeng) whose father appears to have the most motive to kill Sompat.

After a few false leads, Qin is eventually able to recover the gold and exonerate Tang.

Cast

Qin's Uncle, a swindler who lives in Bangkok and claiming to be the first detective of Chinatown. Tang accepted an anonymous delivery job before Qin arrived and became the last person entered Sompat's murder scene. Therefore, both police and the robbers consider him as the one who murdered Sompat and left with the gold.
Tang's nephew, a talented teenager who has astonishing perception and memory yet was rejected from the police college for an untold reason. He went to Bangkok for a vacation, then gets involved in Sompat's case by accident.
Tang's Love interest and his landlady.
Kon Tai's rival in the police department. He is ambitious and eager to solve Sompat's murder case.
A police sergeant of Chinatown police department. He is Tang's close friend and rival to sergeant Huang.
Huang's deputy.

Reception

The film grossed US$4.43 million in previews at the Chinese box office.[7]

It was the ninth grossing film in China in 2015 grossing $126 million.

Sequel

A sequel Detective Chinatown 2, also written and directed by Chen Sicheng, set in New York City's Chinatown, was released on February 16 2018 during the Chinese New Year holiday season. In addition of the two leads of Wang Baoqiang and Liu Haoran reprising their roles, new supporting cast members in Detective Chinatown 2 include Xiao Yang, Michael Pitt, Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Yuen Wah, and Satoshi Tsumabuki.[8]

Another sequel is scheduled to be released in the future.

References

  1. 1 2 "唐人街探案（2015）". cbooo.cn (in Chinese). Retrieved December 26, 2015.
  2. ↑ "DETECTIVE CHINATOWN (15)". British Board of Film Classification. 12 January 2016. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  3. ↑ http://deadline.com/2018/01/detective-chinatown-2-chen-sicheng-interview-chinese-new-year-movie-new-york-filming-1202239860/
  4. ↑ "Tang ren jie tan an (2015)". The Numbers. Retrieved January 4, 2016.
  5. ↑ Brzeski, Patrick (December 29, 2015). "China Box Office: 'Mojin' Marches Toward $200 Million". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "唐人街探案 (2015)". movie.douban.com (in Chinese). Douban. Retrieved December 26, 2015.
  7. ↑ Variety Staff (28 December 2015). "China Box Office: 'Mojin' and 'Devil' Score Strongly Over Busy Christmas Weekend". Variety. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  8. ↑ http://news.mtime.com/2017/11/09/1575359.html
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