Detective Chinatown 1900

2025 [CHINESE]

Comedy / Drama / Mystery

8
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Certified Fresh 85% · 5 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 85% · 100 ratings
IMDb Rating 6.0/10 10 1444 1.4K

chinatown prequel murder buddy comedy 1900s action comedy

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Plot summary

In 1900, a white woman was murdered in Chinatown in San Francisco, and the suspect was a Chinese man. The murder caused social shock, and people demanded the closure of Chinatown.

Director

Sicheng Chen Photo
Sicheng Chen

Top cast

John Cusack Photo
John Cusack as Grant
Cecilia Han Photo
Cecilia Han as
Yun-Fat Chow Photo
Yun-Fat Chow as Bai Xuanling
Vanda Margraf Photo
Vanda Margraf as
720p.BLU 1080p.BLU.x265 1080p.BLU
1.21 GB
1280*536
Chinese 2.0
NR
Subtitles
24 fps
2 hr 15 min
Seeds 100+
2.25 GB
1920*804
Unknown language 5.1
NR
Subtitles
24 fps
2 hr 15 min
Seeds 53
2.49 GB
1920*804
Chinese 5.1
NR
Subtitles
24 fps
2 hr 15 min
Seeds 100+

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by kluseba 7 / 10

An Entertaining Investigative Comedy Misused as a Radical Piece of Propaganda

Detective Chinatown 1900, originally known as Tang Ren Jie Tan an 1900, is the fourth entry in the commercially successful comedic investigative franchise. The story takes place in San Francisco's Chinatown where a young Caucasian woman and an elderly First Nations man are found dead in a back alley. The main suspect is the son of a Chinese businessman who cannot provide an alibi for the time of the crime. The father thus hires a quirky, naive and inexperienced Chinese medicine physician as well as the son of the murdered elderly man who happens to be an orphaned Chinese man who had been adopted by a First Nations tribe and who has developed particularly sharp senses.This movie initially does many things very well. The colourful, detailed and diversified settings look astonishing throughout even though they obviously represent a much more beautiful version of the actual San Francisco's Chinatown. The costumes and make-up also deserve much praise and bring viewers back to a time set between traditional manners and modern perspectives. The quirky characters are introduced step by step which helps the audience to warm up with them when additional information is delivered in a prologue as well as in several flashbacks. The story itself is quite compelling as well since the body count quickly rises and economical, political and social aspects come into play.However, the film loses its entertaining structure halfway through the rising action. Comedic moments are awkwardly intertwined with investigative passages. Critical comments about the treatment of Chinese immigrants to the United States of America are intertwined with a vapid love story pulled out of thin air. The most important First Nations member in this whole film is played by a Chinese actor who essentially plays a shameful caricature of a truly fascinating culture and even the supporting actors are portrayed as people who constantly misunderstand situations on an almost shockingly stupid level. Criticizing the way Americans have treated Chinese immigrants is indeed important but this film loses itself in racist stereotypes that can be summarized as all important American characters being rotten to the core and all important Chinese characters being inherently heroic. The film goes even further by justifying a violent revolution against monarchy that will ultimately establish a socialist country. As if that weren't enough, the movie even concludes with the megalomaniac statement that one day China will become the most powerful country in the whole wide world. What started as a very good movie develops a very bitter aftertaste due to its aggressive, brainwashing and omnipresent political propaganda. The director, scriptwriters and political influencers behind this film really seem to be taking its audience for complete idiots who can easily be manipulated. To me, this propagandistic movie feels like a desperate cry for help, nationalism and pride in a desperate time when China suffers its most dreadful economic crisis following a long-winded deadly pandemic and numerous particularly outspoken protests against the state system itself.Now, don't get me wrong at all, I'm positively amazed by Chinese culture, history and society and even share many of the country's economical, political and social values but this movie's radical propaganda show will even drive off people who actually sympathize with the People's Republic of China. This is what must be called a disastrous political own goal.At the end of the day, let's try to be perfectly fair with our final verdict. This movie is a very entertaining crime comedy that entertains throughout. Its disturbing, extremist and unnecessary propagandistic elements however slow the enjoyment of this film down significantly. Recent reviews by Chinese members of the audience who have found a way to express themselves freely seem to confirm this analysis time and time again.
Reviewed by anon-15964 7 / 10

Refreshing installment to the franchise, but the political plot takes too much space

The popular "Chinatown Detective" franchise has seen some hits and misses, and this is definitely one of the hits.I had to go to an early morning screening cause the movie is constantly booked out in China.The story at the core of the plot is a classic whodunnit with many twists and turns. The development of an interesting and complex multiple murder plot keeps you hooked throughout. The story is large in scope, intertwined with the Qing Empress sending an imperial captain to arrest Cantonese revolutionaries in America, weapons shipments, a native American tribe, and the Chinese exclusion act.The latter however ends up taking up a bit too much of the story, overshadowing the murder plot by the middle of the movie.Known for its jovial detective stories where the stumbling leads solve the case through a keen eye, knowledge of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and sheer luck, the franchise this time bit off more than it could chew with a cartoonishly delivered political plot that kept on growing and taking up more screentime.Still, this movie is definitely worth seeing and will keep you entertained throughout!
Reviewed by dorMancyx 7 / 10

Take This America

Though I had high expectations for this movie for being much spoiled of how great it is, I was still pleasantly surprised by Detective Chinatown 1900. As a Chinese immigrant, I'm proud that it's a mainland Chinese director who decided to touch upon topics of immigrant laborers, the Yellow Peril, and the Chinese Exclusionary Act, and further at how well this part of history is adopted, recreated, and incorporated with the overall storyline of the movie --- as it goes, Chen Sicheng is a true merchant in terms of selecting film subjects. Chow Yun-Fat gives hell of a performance for a multilayered Chinese-American hero: a loving father, an approachable elder, a cunning diplomat, and an authoritative (mob) leader. Bai's speech at the court is a rare scene of cultural outcry that struck me personally and inspired new reflections.Notice how I never mentioned the "detective" bit of the movie? The crime/investigation storyline is decent but not amazing compared to the rest of the franchise, complexity and portrayal wise. Some parts of the murder even took me out in terms of the absurdity and logistics, which leads me to question if the director has a thing with pregnant women (cue his last film Lost in the Stars).Overall, enjoyable comedy, ambitious multi-storylines, and great performances across the board. Keep in mind, however, that this film is targeted toward the Chinese market/audiences and it's meant to educate, provoke, and moralize, perhaps in a way you might not agree with.
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