Nonureva Really Surprised!

Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.

GetPapa Far from Perfect, Far from Terrible

Hadrina The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Korto Malteze Before this I haven't watched a single movie for a while (for about 4 months) and I decided to give an opportunity to Asian cinematography. And I certainly did not regret. This movie isn't as complex as other crime movies but it contains great amount of drama and humor. This "weird" detective is one of the best roles I have seen in a while and in my opinion he carries this whole movie to the next level. If you want to give a chance to Asian cinematography I would highly recommend you this movie.

Lawson It's funny how the title of this movie is "Mad Detective" when the literal translation from its Chinese title is "God Detective." I guess there's a thin line between divinity and insanity.The movie's a well-produced, great-looking vehicle helmed by Hong Kong's most-accoladed director, Johnnie To, and starring Lau Ching Wan, who is perfect for this title role, what with his perpetually slightly delusional expressions. The story, I'm not so sure about. The detective is psychic, apparently, and sees the inner demons of a person and they communicate with him as well. He's also somewhat insane and has an imaginary wife and a prosthetic ear because he cut the original off to give to his boss for reasons unclear. That's all quite fascinating, actually, and Lau does a great job with the role. But since he is (or was) a police detective, the main plot is a somewhat convoluted crime story and between real people and manifested inner demons (in human form), it all becomes just too messy. If you don't mind further spoilers, you can see if you can make sense of the wiki summary.It's too bad; it's a pretty good movie otherwise.

Onderhond It's been a while since To and Wai's last collaboration, but apparently the time apart did them a whole lot of good. Mad Detective (or Sun Taam, if you wish) is another shining star on To's ever-growing list of first class titles. Stylishly executed, cleverly scripted and dare I say quite original. HK genre cinema doesn't get any better than this.To's been on a winning streak these last couple of years and with Mad Detective he's really at the top of his game. The film is filled with typical To elements, but also benefits a lot from Wai's creative writing. Mad Detective is one of these rare films that makes you feel like you're watching something novel and original.Ching Wan Lau, a To regular, is taking on one of the best roles of his career. Lau plays Bun, a detective who's equally brilliant as he is insane. While his methods of investigation are irregular, his behavior is condoned as he's able to solve case upon case. The key to Bun's success is his ability to see behind people's masks. He sees every aspects of a single person as a separate individual. All goes well until Bun's retirement, when his genius is quickly degraded to simple madness.In Mad Detective, we see Bun chasing after a guy with no less than 7 personalities (though only three of them are dominant). The film is often changing perspectives which keeps the viewer well on its toes. One character is actually played by 8 different actors and To doesn't give too many warnings. But looking back, the film isn't that hard to follow or figure out and the concept never sits in the way of the basic storyline.Visually To only seems to improve. There are plenty of awesomely framed shots, neatly lit and even though the film has an overall dark overtone, colors really jump of the screen. And while To keeps on making films at a staggering rate, it's impressive to see how visually accomplished each and every one of his later films are.Another definite plus is the soundtrack. Though often light in tone it doesn't hurt the atmosphere one bit, but only underlines the sad but dark overtones of Bun's madness. Strange sounds are brought together to form music, sometimes quirky melodies are used, but the music never feels out of place. More so, it does an excellent job at defining To's style and helps to shape his films. Not as in your face as the soundtrack of Sparrow, but once you start listing you'll notice how weird it really is.It would've been quite easy to push the film into one direction, but To manages to keep a healthy balance. One moment Bun's actions can be rather amusing, a couple of minutes later there's a definite sadness to his character. And even though it's actually a dark and personal tale of a sick individual, the film is also able to keep its soft and creative edge, never choosing sides between being a character portrait or purely story-driven film making.Mad Detective is a film where everything works out. Excellent cast, creative and original perspective, a solid storyline, stylishly visualized and magnificently scored. The film has no weak points, unless you prefer film making to stay in more familiar territory. if so, I suggest you wait for one of the big Hollywood directors to turn it into a lifeless, soulless and old-fashioned crime/drama. If that doesn't sound too appealing, be sure to check out To's Mad Detective. If anything, it's one of the best recent examples there's still plenty of life and creativity left in sculpting stories.Together with Sparrow, To proves himself to be one of the most interesting directors in cinema today. His genre films are strong, original and seamlessly executed and seem to lack any weak points. Mad Detective is a definite recommend. 4.5*/5.0*

edchin2006 This detective story doesn't quite match the C+ Detective film. A bumbling detective may not be as successful as an insane one, but bumbling makes for more amusing and unpredictable situations.The idea that an insane person can have quite penetrating insights is not a new concept - after all, insane people aren't stupid; they're just crazy.As for the whodunit and how, it was annoyingly predictable.However, this film is worth watching for the interesting photography which reveals the altered perception of reality experienced by the "best" detective. The suggestion of how insanity might be manifest in an individual is fascinating. The inter-cutting is confusing at first, but the scenes with the mirrors reveal how things appear to our "best" detective.