Executive produced by Bey Logan, the Producer of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword Of Destiny, and James Nan (Five Element Killer, The Dark Soul, Vixen), Lady Shadow Detective (2018) is a Hong Kong action-packed martial arts television movie directed by Shu-bu Si, written by Hu Rong and starring Qi Jing-bin, Zhang Pei-yue and Zhang Ren-bo. The film is edited by Sun Wan-lin and Shu-bu Si is also the Cinematographer. The original music is by Xiaoqui Huang.
With high-quality mystery, suspense, and an intriguing storyline, Lady Shadow Detective (2018) is set against the badlands of ancient China. The movie introduces an intuitive and sly woman who never sacrifices her femininity or sense of self while she brings criminals to justice.
The TV movie was released in China on May 9, 2018 and DarkCoast released Lady Shadow Detective (2018) onto various digital streaming platforms on February 26, 2019. These platforms include Hoopla, FlixFling, Vimeo On Demand, Amazon Prime, Vudu, iTunes, Google Play, and FANDAGO.
Lady Detective Shadow (2018) Review
We like detective shows, martial arts and Wushu films, so it is not difficult to like producer Bey Logan’s TV movie, Lady Detective Shadow (2018), which puts all those pieces together. A relatively low budget film that takes on a big budget vibe, Lady Detective Shadow (2018) is created in much the same style as the 90’s Wushu films. This film is entirely a Chinese production so don’t expect anything other than Chinese culture, and, although you may not recognize anyone in cast, Lady Detective Shadow (2018) does have an excellent ensemble of well known individuals in the native cast and they work very well together.
For those speaking only English, watching a crime story entirely in Mandarin means dependency on English subtitles and this can be aggravating for viewers as there are always times when we feel we’ve missed something important in the conversation. On a good note, however, the lighting in this film did made it easier to read the subtitles, unlike many similar Hong Kong films made in the 1980’s and 90’s.
Lady Detective Shadow (2018) is about a very astute investigator, a Sherlock Holmes style “lady” detective by the name of Sima Feiyan, played by Shang Rong, who travels throughout ancient China solving crimes. Not only is this character capable of wisely deducing circumstances others don’t notice, but she is also a well trained martial artist who, along with her sidekick, is capable of incapacitating just about any villain. The bad guys see only a beautiful and mysterious woman, and then, for them, it is too late.
The Lady Detective Shadow (2018) story line is good, if not a little predictable at times, but there was so many high energy fight scenes that Lady Detective Shadow (2018) didn’t give us time to get bored. If you don’t like wire work this may not be the film for you, and there were times we wished they had a bigger budget so they could actually travel to the necessary destinations to film particular scenes instead of using CGI green screen, but, with the right budget, this film could easily become a hit series.
Also, if you are paying attention, you will glean a bit of Chinese wisdom from Lady Detective Shadow (2018):
Much like in Bolo Yeung’s Writing Kung-fu (1979) we gleaned that “A man has a strong body or kung fu skills, that is one’s man power, but words are another way of conveying the truth, and with knowledge and talent, a country can thrive.” This is great news for writers, as we must be appreciated for fighting with words.
For the bad guys in Lady Detective Shadow (2018), “reason was defeated by desire.” Thankfully the Lady Detective uses reason, and a bit of kung fu, to extinguish the desires of the bad guys.
All in all, we would be willing to travel with the Lady Detective on any of her new adventures, as she continues to outwit and outfight the bad guys of ancient China.
