''Detective Chinatown 3'' () is a 2021 Chinese

comedy mystery A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

buddy film directed and written by

Chen Sicheng Chen Sicheng (born February 22, 1978 in Shenyang) is a Chinese actor, director and screenwriter. He graduated from the Central Academy of Drama, and is known for his leading roles in the films ''A Young Prisoner's Revenge'' and ''Spring Fever''; ...

, starring

Wang Baoqiang Wang Baoqiang (; born 29 May 1984) is a Chinese actor, martial artist and director. His debut role was that of Yuan Fengming in the movie '' Blind Shaft'', for which he shared the Best New Performer prize at the 2003 Golden Horse Awards. Ear ...

and

Liu Haoran Liu Haoran (; born 10 October 1997), also known as Turbo Liu, is a Chinese actor. Liu ranked 18th on ''Forbes'' China Celebrity 100 list in 2020, 19th in 2019, and 89th in 2017. In 2021, Liu became the youngest actor to gross over 15 billion RM ...

. It is a sequel to ''

Detective Chinatown 2 ''Detective Chinatown 2'' () is a 2018 Chinese comedy-mystery buddy film directed and written by Chen Sicheng, starring Wang Baoqiang and Liu Haoran. A sequel to 2015's ''Detective Chinatown'', the film was released in China on 16 February 2018. ...

'' (2018) and is the third installment in the ''Detective Chinatown'' series. It was released on 12 February 2021. The film set several box office records, including the biggest opening weekend ever in a single territory. Grossing over US$699 million, becoming the highest-grossing non-American R-rated film of all time. It is also the sixth-highest-grossing film of 2021 and the sixth-highest-grossing non-English film of all time.

Plot

After the events in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...

and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, Tang Ren and Qin Feng are invited to

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

to investigate another crime that has occurred there, leading to a battle between the strongest detectives in Asia. The film starts with Tang and Qin on plane eating junk food and Tang needs to use the bathroom. Later, he was escorted to meet the suspected murder of the Don who stated not guilty. Following examination of the body, Tang found a needle prick in the victim's body, which was not reported in the autopsy report. Also, he used a visual stimulisor of the broken glasses and found the missing glass from the murdered Don´s car. Tang convinces the judge that Anna had committed the murder by showing the murder weapon and examining the CCTV footages. Anna was the daughter of the suspected murderer, who left her and her mother in their worst times. Driven by revenge of her mother's sufferings and death, Anna planned to make her father suffer, by making him suspect of the murder she had committed. The film ends with all the detectives from the investigation app united against Q, who turned out to be a group of individuals with high IQ, planning to destroy the established systems of the world.

Cast

as Tang Ren () *

as Qin Feng () *

Satoshi Tsumabuki is a Japanese actor. His breakthrough film was ''Waterboys'' for which he was nominated for the 'Best Actor' award at the Japanese Academy Awards, and won the 'Newcomer of the Year' prize. He is also the bassist and lead singer of the Japanese ...

as Hiroshi Noda *

Tony Jaa Tatchakorn Yeerum ( th, ทัชชกร ยีรัมย์, , ; formerly Phanom Yeerum ( th, พนม ยีรัมย์, ); born 5 February 1976), better known internationally as Tony Jaa and in Thailand as Jaa Phanom ( th, จา � ...

as Jack Jaa *

Masami Nagasawa is a common Japanese given name and can be given to either sex. Possible writings *惟美, meaning "Considerate beauty" *真己, meaning "True self" or "Truth, Snake" *昌美, meaning "Prosperous beauty" *雅美, meaning "Gracious beauty" *� ...

as Anna Kobayashi *

Tomokazu Miura is a Japanese actor. Life and career Miura attended Hino high school in Tokyo. He was originally a member of rock group RC Succession, but was asked to leave the group by their management when they signed a record contract. However, impressed b ...

as Masaru Watanabe *

Tadanobu Asano , better known by his stage name , is a Japanese actor. He is known for his roles as Dragon Eye Morrison in ''Electric Dragon 80.000 V'', Kakihara in ''Ichi the Killer'', Mamoru Arita in '' Bright Future'', Hattori Genosuke in ''Zatoichi'', Kenj ...

as Naoki Tanaka * Shang Yuxian as Kiko *

Honami Suzuki is a Japanese actress. Career Suzuki began acting after high school and debuted at age 19 in the television drama ''Asobi Ja Nai No Yo, Kono Koi Wa'' (TBS, 1986). Her breakthrough came in 1991 with the role of Rika in the Fuji TV television ad ...

as Yoshiko Kawamaru *

Shōta Sometani is a Japanese actor from Koto, Tokyo. He is known for his protagonist roles in ''Himizu'' and ''Parasyte''. Career Sometani was a child actor. He has worked in both film and television, gaining his first leading role in ''Pandora's Box'', ...

as Akira Murata *

Cheng Xiao Cheng Xiao (; , born July 15, 1998) is a Chinese singer, dancer and actress currently active in China since 2018, and well known as a member of South Korean-Chinese girl group WJSN. Early life Cheng was born on July 15, 1998, in Nanshan Distr ...

as Lu Jingjing *

Chen Zheyuan Chen Zheyuan (; born October 29, 1996), is a Chinese actor and singer. He is best known for his roles in the wuxia drama '' Handsome Siblings'' (2020) and the new modern drama '' Our Secret'' (2021). Biography In 2015, Chen participated in the ...

as Kouji Noda *

Zhang Zifeng Zhang Zifeng (born 27 August 2001), also known as Wendy Zhang, is a Chinese actress currently attending Beijing Film Academy. She is widely considered one of the best young actors in China today. In 2012 she won Best Newcomer at the 31st Hundre ...

as Snow * Xiao Yang as Song Yi

Release

The film was initially planned for release in China for the 2020

Chinese New Year Chinese New Year is the festival that celebrates the beginning of a New Year, new year on the traditional lunisolar calendar, lunisolar and solar Chinese calendar. In Sinophone, Chinese and other East Asian cultures, the festival is commonly r ...

but the release was postponed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in China The COVID-19 pandemic in China is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). China was the first country to experience an outbreak of the ...

. The film was rescheduled and released on February 12, 2021.

Reception

Box office

''Detective Chinatown 3'' made RMB 673 million ($104 million) in advance tickets for its opening day and RMB 950 million ($147 million) for its first week, the highest amount ever in China beating '' Avengers: Endgame'' ($95.5 million) and resulting in a projected opening weekend of over $200 million. The film grossed $163 million (RMB 1.05 billion) on its first day of release, the biggest opening day in world history (beating ''Endgame''s $157 million in North America) and pushing weekend projections to as high as $400 million. The film ended up debuting to RMB 2.56 billion ($398 million), becoming the biggest opening weekend ever in a single territory (beating ''Endgame''s $357 million in April 2019). The film grossed over US$424 million in its opening weekend, making it the ninth-highest-grossing opening for a film. By the end of its second weekend the film had a running total of RMB 4.36 billion ($673 million), making it the fifth-highest-grossing film of 2021 and the sixth-highest-grossing non-English film of all time.

Critical response

Peter Bradshaw Peter Bradshaw (born 19 June 1962) is a British writer and film critic. He has been chief film critic at ''The Guardian'' since 1999, and is a contributing editor at ''Esquire''. Early life and education Bradshaw was educated at Haberdashers ...

of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' gave the film 3/5 stars, calling it "more no-holds-barred slapstick action".

Todd McCarthy Todd McCarthy (born February 16, 1950) is an American film critic and author. He wrote for ''Variety'' for 31 years as its chief film critic until 2010. In October of that year, he joined ''The Hollywood Reporter'', where he subsequently served ...

of ''

Deadline Hollywood ''Deadline Hollywood'', commonly known as ''Deadline'' and also referred to as ''Deadline.com'', is an online news site founded as the news blog ''Deadline Hollywood Daily'' by Nikki Finke in 2006. The site is updated several times a day, with ...

'' was less favorable, writing: "Its enormous box office numbers notwithstanding, I have to rate ''Detective Chinatown 3'' as something of a disappointment after the raucously engaging first two entries." John Berra of ''

Screen International ''Screen International'' is a British film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involved in the global film business. ...

'' gave the film a favorable review, writing that it "exudes a heightened zaniness which is most welcome in today's largely homogenised franchise landscape" and "is an insanely colourful, no expense spared blockbuster". Chinese audiences on

Maoyan Tianjin Maoyan Culture Media () is a Chinese company that owns the largest online movie ticketing website in China, maoyan.com, with 30% share of the market in 2015. In 2016, Wang Changtian of Beijing Enlight Media offered to buy a controlling stak ...

gave the film a 8.8/10, while those on

Douban Douban.com (), launched on 6 March 2005, is a Chinese online database and social networking service that allows registered users to record information and create content related to film, books, music, recent events, and activities in Chinese c ...

gave it an average score of 5.6.

References

External links

* {{Chen Sicheng 2020s buddy comedy films 2020s comedy mystery films 2020s Mandarin-language films 2020s spy comedy films 2021 action comedy films 2021 films Chinese action comedy films Chinese comedy mystery films Chinese detective films Chinese New Year films Chinese sequel films Films directed by Chen Sicheng Films postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic Films scored by Nathan Wang Films set in Japan Films set in Tokyo IMAX films Warner Bros. films Wanda Pictures films Yakuza films