I like Black Panther, but I didn't like this movie.

How sad is this?

A different way of telling a story

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

"Mad Detective" starts promisingly. It shows that Johnny To has hit on a premise that allows his movie to not make sense without that perhaps being too much of a problem. However it falls apart towards the end and becomes just as maddeningly obtuse as all his other movies, the novel starting point hurting the movie in the final act.Bun is a detective with a supernatural gift - or is he just crazy? - that lets him see a person's "true personality". He is fired after he cuts off his own ear and tries to give it to his superior.Some time later, a policeman has gone missing and his gun has been used in murders. Bun is tracked down to find the culprit.Most of the above I had to check Wikipedia to find out. I remember the ear cutting bit, the fact that Bun has a "gift", and some of the other stuff. That's the thing with Johnnie To: details of crimes the characters are investigating and the motivations of the characters are always really sketchy, and the ending always requires you to understand stuff you don't.I think the problem with "Mad Detective" is its style. At first you feel liberated when you realise much of what you see on screen isn't supposed to be real and probably isn't supposed to make sense. You're seeing what the Mad Detective, Bun, sees. But in the end you realise you actually needed to be able to tell the difference between the real and the fake, and the movie doesn't give you enough help in this regard. There should have been a clear stylistic difference between the figments of Bun's imagination and those things that exist outside of his mind, or his second sight.What felt like an illuminating device only ended up adding more confusion than the usual To film.

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

It's funny how the title of this movie is "Mad Detective" when the literal translation from its Chinese title is "God Detective." I guess there's a thin line between divinity and insanity.The movie's a well-produced, great-looking vehicle helmed by Hong Kong's most-accoladed director, Johnnie To, and starring Lau Ching Wan, who is perfect for this title role, what with his perpetually slightly delusional expressions. The story, I'm not so sure about. The detective is psychic, apparently, and sees the inner demons of a person and they communicate with him as well. He's also somewhat insane and has an imaginary wife and a prosthetic ear because he cut the original off to give to his boss for reasons unclear. That's all quite fascinating, actually, and Lau does a great job with the role. But since he is (or was) a police detective, the main plot is a somewhat convoluted crime story and between real people and manifested inner demons (in human form), it all becomes just too messy. If you don't mind further spoilers, you can see if you can make sense of the wiki summary.It's too bad; it's a pretty good movie otherwise.

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.