Good start, but then it gets ruined

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

July was Johnnie To month. This time, however, it is a film I have actually seen before. Viewing it on its UK release, I could confirm that it was indeed worth the few HK$ that I paid for it, but still took approximately 51 weeks to get round to watching it. 'Mad Detective' - a co-directing with Wai Ka Fai - is a little different from other Johnnie To works that I have seen; being less about the violence and conflict within power struggles and more around character development.Bun is a tad…well, mad. Forced out of professional detectiveing, he answers the call of Ho (Andy On), a younger detective out-of-luck in a case involving the disappearance of a police officer 18 months previous, and puts his thinking ear on to aid the detective now in possession of his old police pistol.But as previously stated: Bun is mad. Claiming to see people's inner- selves, he will see multiple personalities in individuals to our one, and is 'aided' by his wife, who left him many moons ago. It's not long before Ho realises his mistake and sees why he was kicked-out of the police originally, despite his knack for solving crimes involving suitcases.Starting off with comedic moments – with multiple personalities visiting the little boys' room together at once – the film becomes more tense as it progresses towards the climax, as everyone's inner-self is revealed and the truth uncovered.Lau Ching Wan does a good job in the lead role, as do the make-up department in making his hair just messy enough to create the illusion of madness and Johnnie To and collaborator Wai Ka Fai shows he can make a film a little different from his norm, with some nice camera-work for an 'Enter the Dragon' like ending.Kitano's 'Violent Cop', To's 'Mad Detective', I am now left to watch William Lustig's undoubted 1988 classic 'Maniac Cop'.www.politic1983.blogspot.com

Johnnie To & Wai Ka-Fai's Mad Detective is a film that turns the Hong Kong crime genre upon it's head. Based around the simple concept of a man that can see everyone's hidden persona's, Mad Detective is anything but formulaic and right from the very start dissuades any notion that this is just another flashy HK crime flick. Lau Ching-Wan stars as the eponymous Mad Detective, Inspector Chan Kwai-Bun, a brilliant detective forced into retirement when his methods and actions become a little too bizarre. Alongside him Andy On plays young Inspector Ho who tries to enlist the aid of retired Inspector Bun to solve a complex murder case involving a missing police officer and a suspect with multiple personalities.What follows is a highly ingenious, highly inventive and above all, highly entertaining piece of cinema. Paced perfectly, this viewer sat on the edge of his seat, intrigued and enthralled in equal measure and delighting and the simple, unrestrained freshness of this film and it's premise. Lau Ching-Wan plays his part exceptionally well as the oddball Inspector Bun, throwing all semblance of logic out of the window as he investigates the case, but it's a straight faced performance; there's no comedy here as the plot and it's characters take themselves very seriously. However, despite this it's hard not to find humour in some of the scenes involving multiple personalities, and whether this was the directors intent or not, it does provide a handful of light hearted moments that help to break up this complex and down-right weird film into more palatable pieces.Overall, if you're looking for a crime film that's as inventive and intriguing as it is enjoyable, you can't go wrong with Mad Detective. See it now before Hollywood does an inevitable remake.

City on Fire, The Infernal Affairs trilogy, One Night in Mongkok, Hard Boiled, The Killer, Bullet in the head, Election and A Better Tomorrow all of these films are classics of the Hong Kong crime thriller genre, but all are fairly typical in their execution - this is where Mad Detective comes in.I've read a lot of press for this film, press which basically states that this film has carved out a niche all of its own. Now upon reading this, it gave the impression that it was one of two things: a pretentious load of rubbish or an ambitious failure, luckily its neither of these things.What makes this film different is the lead character (Detective Bun), someone who claims they can see people's inner personalities or inner ghosts. It's never determined whether he can see such things or it's the visual representation of his madness, either way such an ambiguous concept is a good thing, if it was confirmed to be one thing or the other it would damage the tone of the film.The story of Mad Detective revolves around an 8 month old case to find a missing police officer and his gun, a case which a former employee of Detective Bun's openly asks for help from the Mad Detective. He asks as Bun has been fired for literally being the mad detective, it'll make sense when you watch it.What follows is a fairly typical police crime thriller, outside of Bun's world, anyway. On the face of it, mad Detective is a simple tale in which Bun and his junior officer are investigating what has happened to a missing officer and who is responsible for his disappearance. This is punctuated by certain realities of Bun's life and the reality of his madness in everyday situation which helps flesh out the story considerably.But the investigation is where the story lies, the main narrative of the story focuses on the confusion of whether Bun is solving the crime correctly or whether it is just his madness leading him in a certain direction - something which pervades the junior officers every thought (after a certain point). Yes, this is confusing, but at the same time it's brilliant, much in the way that the final few scenes of fight club & memento change the entire meaning of the film. That for me is what I want from a film, an ending which shocks and entertains in equal measures, and better than most other contemporary films.So given the inclusion of Bun's madness it does, as certain film critics have claimed create a niche unto itself. One thing is for sure you won't have seen many films like this, I certainly haven't. A truly brilliant, rewarding film, even if its demands quite a bit patience.

When i come out from the cinema,the first thing i want to do is buy one more ticket and watch this film again. Because if you miss a little part of this movie, maybe you will be confused,and can't understand the story. So, the night before you watch this movie, please sleep earlier, and keep a clear mind. The story of this movie is about a "crazy" former police(Bun) helping a police on an investigation of an series of recent heists and murders. Bun has the ability see into a person's inner personality ( as ghost in the movie ), everyone has ghosts in their mind, sometimes you can see other people's ghost, but maybe you can't see yours or you will be blind to your ghost. This is the best Hong Kong movie ever. I think this movie should win more award and Lau Ching Wan will be all time best actor in Hong Kong. Hope Johnny To and Wai Ka Fai will bring more new idea ,new stuff, and more more more good movie for Hong Kong.