This CNY detective comedy will have a single-take 400-men (!) fight scene

It's a detective comedy riding on the tailwinds of its two previous box-office hits. But no one can accuse its makers of being complacent.

In the third instalment of Chinese film Detective Chinatown 3, director Chen Sicheng roped in famous Thai martial arts actor Tony Jaa for a lead role. Not surprisingly, the Ong-Bak star — who plays Thai private detective Jack Jaa in the film — will have his fair share of action scenes while chasing down suspects in his investigations.

But that's not all. Chen also created a seemingly impossible situation of a massive 400-men fight scene inside what looks like a Japanese airport.

The story kicks off when Japanese private detective Hiroshi Noda (played by Satoshi Tsumabuki) invites protagonists Tang Ren (Wang Baoqiang) and his genius nephew Qin Feng (Liu Haoran) to Tokyo to solve a case.

Su Chaiwit, the president of the SEA Chamber of Commerce, was killed in a locked room during his meeting with Watanabe, the president of the Black Dragon Gang. All evidence points to Watanabe as the only suspect.

Win! Movie tickets to Detective Chinatown 3

Nevertheless, Tang Ren, Qin Feng, Hiroshi, and Jack find the case suspicious and team up in their investigation to find the real culprit. However, obstacles — including other sleuths on the international Crimaster detective ranking list — get in the way.

The movie — shot in the touristy areas of Akihabara, Shinjuku, and Shibuya — will also finally reveal the identity of Q, the mysterious top-ranking detective in Crimaster who appeared in the first two movies.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xm802S2jT0&t=27s[/embed]

One of the most difficult and intense scenes in the film involved around 400 actors chasing and fighting simultaneously across two levels and on a staircase as the cameras rolled.

The production crew adopted a single-take tracking approach using cameras mounted on a jib arm, on a Steadicam, as well as on a suspended cable system to achieve a seamless, continuous result.

"When we finished that scene, I truly understood the high technical skills of the Chinese crew," actor Satoshi said in an interview.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=OsjaXUapK1Y&feature=emb_logo[/embed]

Hong Kong superstar Andy Lau is also rumoured to have a special cameo appearance in the movie, on top of performing with actors Wang Baoqiang and Liu Haoran in a remake of his CNY song Gong Xi Fa Cai.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_wIjD5ONRo[/embed]

Detective Chinatown 3, which won the Most Anticipated Movie award in the 2019 Jinri Toutiao Awards Ceremony held earlier this month, has achieved record-breaking box office takings of more than RMB 277 million (S$54 million) for advance ticket sales in China to date.

Click here for more info on the movie and also the showtimes. 

This article was brought to you in partnership with mm2 Entertainment.

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[UPDATE, Jan 23, 5pm]:

An earlier version of this article listed Detective Chinatown 3 opening here on Jan 25. This has been removed as the global release date has been postponed due to the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak. The contest is also closed as a result.

kwokkarpeng@asiaone.com