Lady Detective Shadow (Tv Movie) 2018 Review (C) 2019 Dan's Movie Report EXCLUSIVE!

Above: Poster of Lady Detective Shadow (C) 2018 
TriCoast / Rock Salt Releasing

Greetings valued Dan's Movie Report readers. Had not expected this one for quite some time. The story begins years back 2014 to be exact, when I had extensive discussions with Producer Bey Logan, about the inner workings of his two films, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon: Sword Of Destiny, and Lady Bloodfight. We chatted extensively with regards to the difficulty of juxtaposition, to meld East and West cultures. Bey worked for TWC and honestly has spent the past two years not only being close to his family, unraveling the negative orbit of TWC, but finally being able to make a film that is rather steeped in tradition, free of US studio meddling!!

I am planning a second interview with Bey Logan, in March. (please read our first interview) http://dansmoviereport.blogspot.com/2015/04/bey-logan-interview-exclusive-c-2015.html Rather than dwelling on the rehashed past, I will discuss his books and this unue film!

 Being as this is a very preliminary review of Lady Detective Shadow, I will share a few thoughts on it. First of all this is an entire Chinese Production, actually this completely works. Melding styles and forcing a multi-racial cast just for the sake of an inclusion rider type of event, at times can make a film suffer. Case in point, I absolutely loved Black Panther, yes I was the ONLY white guy in the theater I went to, did it matter, absolutely not, it was quite refreshing to see a movie made about an African Kingdom, with um you know people of African origin in it.

Lady Detective Shadow is a Wushu film, with a mystical feel. I told Bey, it has the feel of a House of Flying Daggers, yet, the sweeping action and detailed story made it seem like Hero, minus the massive budget, and A Lister talent. 

The Photos are screen shots from the film, and a licensed for this review.

 

The story of Lady Detective Shadow opens with a strong interplay of a detective and her assistant trying to solve a crime, and the cool thing is, a story is told, it is a bit mysterious. Unlike the second Crouching Tiger film, the movie has a story that develops and characters, if they are hurt or killed, we care about.

My favorite aspect of Lady Detective Shadow is the way the film is lit, I know what you all are thinking, trust me, too many HK films that were shot in the 80s and 90s had really amazing action, but much of it happens in such a poorly lit environment, it is either turn up the brightness on your TV to wash the color out or sit back and strain your eyes. Lady Detective Shadow is all subtitled and reading the text is made far more engaging with a clearly framed action sequence as well as well lit dialogue for the actors.

Speaking of acting, no cast member stole the show, which in this case is a very important quality, Lady Detective Shadow is not an Al Pacino monologue film. While there may be no award winning performances, the cast make the entire product look good as a whole. 'Would a robin stand in the way of a swan' one of the many quotes that resonate throughout Lady Detective Shadow as in the final one third of the movie, Father, son and sister meet to decide their fate, or do the? A world inside a world, a complex conundrum. Well costumed and intricately fabricated sets for an indie, obviously time was taken to not only tell a story but put the viewer in the world of the Lady Detective!!

Lady Detective Shadow is NOT for everyone, but if you are a fan of 90s style wushu films, and do not mind the lack of massive star power, at least for now, hope they all explode of course than this film is a great watch. At under 90 minutes, actually I thought it was somewhat short, but upon finishing it, it felt about right. To me I see this property as a limited series on HBO Asia or Netflix, if the U.S.. success of Grisse which comes out March 6^th and the eventual Summertime unleashing of the massive Netflix show Wu Assassins. For fans of the genre like myself, Lady Detective Shadow is a strong 7 out of 10. I hope that this film can make some rounds in a film festival run. Bey Logan and James Nan have a great indie property, and told a story the way they wanted, for that they deserve respect.

Keep it locked on Dan's Movie Report, more will follow! For even more action news and detailed exclusive interviews, please check out the best indie action site on the web www.action-flix.com 

 U.S. release date: Feb. 26 on Amazon, iTunes, Vimeo on Demand, Hoopla, DirecTV, FlixFling and Vudu.