{ "id": "epr1ptktch", "slug": "detective-vs-sleuths", "title": "Detective vs. Sleuths (神探大战)", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery", "label": "Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery.2020-2022-films", "label": "2020–2022 films", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery.2020-2022-films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery.2020-2022-films.yr-2022", "label": "Released in 2022", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery.2020-2022-films.yr-2022" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.chn.t2021.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery", "label": "China · 2021 and later: Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t2021.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery", "path": [ { "id": "geo.chn", "label": "China", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t2021", "label": "China · 2021 and later", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t2021" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t2021.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t2021.culture" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t2021.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t2021.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t2021.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t2021.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t2021.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t2021.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t2021.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t2021.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t2021.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery", "label": "Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t2021.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Detective vs. Sleuths (神探大战) is a 2022 Hong Kong crime action film directed by Wai Ka-Fai, starring Lau Ching-wan as a disgraced detective hunting vigilante killers.", "snippet": "Detective vs. Sleuths (神探大战) is a 2022 Hong Kong crime action film directed by Wai Ka-Fai, starring Lau Ching-wan as a disgraced detective hunting vigilante killers.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery.2020-2022-films.yr-2022", "markdown": "# Detective vs. Sleuths (神探大战)\n\n**Detective vs. Sleuths** (神探大战) is a 2022 Hong Kong crime action film directed, produced, and co-written by Wai Ka-Fai, in which a disgraced, mentally ill former detective joins a police task force hunting vigilante killers who murder suspects that escaped justice in cold cases[1](https://www.emp.hk/cs/production/all/detective-vs-sleuths). It stars Lau Ching-wan (刘青云) as Lee Jun (李俊), with [Charlene Choi](https://www.edgepedia.org/charlene-choi) (蔡卓妍), [Raymond Lam](https://www.edgepedia.org/raymond-lam) (林峰), and Carman Lee (李若彤) in supporting roles[1](https://www.emp.hk/cs/production/all/detective-vs-sleuths). Produced by Emperor Motion Pictures, it opened in mainland China on 8 July 2022 and in Hong Kong on 21 July 2022, and went on to win four awards at the 41st Hong Kong Film Awards[2](https://www.1905.com/mdb/film/2240907/info/) • [3](https://www.kinoafisha.info/en/movies/8378412/).\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Director and writers | Wai Ka-Fai (director, producer, co-writer), with co-writers Ryker Chan (陈伟斌) and Mak Tin-shu (麦天枢)[1](https://www.emp.hk/cs/production/all/detective-vs-sleuths) |\n| Lead cast | Lau Ching-wan as Lee Jun, Charlene Choi as Chan Yee, Raymond Lam as Fong Lai-sun, Carman Lee as Wong Yan[1](https://www.emp.hk/cs/production/all/detective-vs-sleuths) |\n| Release | Mainland China 8 July 2022; Hong Kong 21 July 2022; Malaysia 14 July 2022; Singapore 21 July 2022; Taiwan 19 August 2022[3](https://www.kinoafisha.info/en/movies/8378412/) |\n| Runtime and languages | 102 minutes; Cantonese and Mandarin[2](https://www.1905.com/mdb/film/2240907/info/) |\n| Mainland box office | Passed 600 million yuan (including presales) within 19 days, with over 15.805 million admissions[4](https://m.1905.com/m/news/vivo/1587974.shtml) |\n| Hong Kong box office | HK$16,223,882 from 249,270 admissions over a 58-day first run[5](https://www.fdc.gov.hk/tc/publication/HKFI%20Info2022_%20Full%20View_9.pdf) |\n| Major awards | 41st Hong Kong Film Awards (2023): Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Actor; Best Film nomination[2](https://www.1905.com/mdb/film/2240907/info/) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Plot\n\nHong Kong is hit by a series of brutal murders whose victims are suspects from unsolved cold cases. The killers call themselves \"the Sleuths\" (神探), carry out vigilante executions, and openly challenge the police, who respond by forming a special task force of their own top detectives[6](https://www.disneyplus.com/en-sg/browse/entity-b8c4d904-c03c-4d7b-8bf2-b5eaca0be4f4).\n\nLee Jun was once the police force's ace detective, nicknamed \"the Sleuth,\" before a mental breakdown ended his career; he now lives homeless on the streets[6](https://www.disneyplus.com/en-sg/browse/entity-b8c4d904-c03c-4d7b-8bf2-b5eaca0be4f4). The 1905 synopsis adds that he was expelled after pointing a gun at fellow officers during the \"Mad Cop\" case, and that he accurately predicts the time and place of each revenge killing, drawing the attention of West Kowloon detective Chan Yee and the suspicion of her husband and colleague Fong Lai-sun and of Lee's former partner Wong Yan[2](https://www.1905.com/mdb/film/2240907/info/). To prove he is not a lunatic but the real \"Sleuth,\" Lee joins the fight, racing against time to solve new and old cases and bring the murderous \"Sleuths\" to justice, while three factions of \"sleuths,\" each with its own idea of justice, collide[1](https://www.emp.hk/cs/production/all/detective-vs-sleuths).\n\n## Relationship to Mad Detective\n\nThe film invites comparison with *[Mad Detective](https://www.edgepedia.org/mad-detective)* (神探, 2007), which Wai Ka-Fai co-directed with [Johnnie To](https://www.edgepedia.org/johnnie-to) and in which Lau Ching-wan played a similarly disturbed ex-policeman. Wai has stated repeatedly that *Detective vs. Sleuths* is not a sequel; the connection is only the \"mad\" protagonist premise[7](https://m.bjnews.com.cn/detail/1657714265169208.html). Critics note the shared elements: an edge-of-society \"mad detective\" with multiple personalities and a gift for reading people, a signature gesture of firing an imaginary finger-gun, and dialogue on the relationship between man and monster[8](https://m.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_18959734).\n\nThe two films differ in production and intent. *Mad Detective* was a Milkyway Image production co-directed by Johnnie To, while *Detective vs. Sleuths* was made with Emperor Motion Pictures and directed by Wai alone; Wai has described the earlier film as a strongly auteurist work and the new one as an outright commercial film[8](https://m.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_18959734). The commercial shift is visible on screen: gunfights, explosions, and water rescues run through the whole film, whereas Wai felt his earlier detective films, *Mad Detective* and *[Blind Detective](https://www.edgepedia.org/blind-detective)*, lacked action set pieces[7](https://m.bjnews.com.cn/detail/1657714265169208.html). One review estimates that roughly 90 percent of the film is action[9](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_19153125).\n\n## Production and release history\n\nThe idea had a long gestation. Wai has said that after *Mad Detective* he rarely directed alone, and that when Emperor Group chairman Albert Yeung suggested a film version of the TV series *[The Greed of Man](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-greed-of-man)*, the idea of rebuilding the \"sleuth\" story came to him instead[7](https://m.bjnews.com.cn/detail/1657714265169208.html). In another interview he dated the original idea to about 15 years before release and said production began about six years before[10](https://www.sohu.com/a/570051058_603687).\n\nThe film was shot in 2018, before the COVID-19 pandemic, which allowed scenes of cross-border travel between the mainland and Hong Kong[11](https://www.chinawriter.com.cn/n1/2022/0712/c419388-32472462.html). Its path to cinemas was drawn out: a trailer appeared in 2019, followed by reshoots and a withdrawn release date before the film finally opened on 8 July 2022[12](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_19025692). Wai's working method drew attention: he writes without a finished script, producing pages on set, a habit Lau Ching-wan has worked with since the television era[7](https://m.bjnews.com.cn/detail/1657714265169208.html).\n\nThe production was a mainland-Hong Kong co-production registered as such in 2018, with Emperor (Beijing) and Emperor Motion Pictures among the production companies[2](https://www.1905.com/mdb/film/2240907/info/). The story's crimes are set in Kowloon and the [New Territories](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-territories) rather than [Hong Kong Island](https://www.edgepedia.org/hong-kong-island), taking the confrontations into rural landscapes unusual for the genre[11](https://www.chinawriter.com.cn/n1/2022/0712/c419388-32472462.html).\n\n## Reception and box office\n\nThe film opened strongly in mainland China, taking 258 million yuan in its first week and topping the weekly box office in its second week with 239.8 million yuan, for a cumulative total of 394 million yuan by 17 July 2022[12](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_19025692) • [13](https://m.1905.com/m/news/vivo/1586597.shtml). By day 19 the total had passed 600 million yuan, lifting it to ninth place on the 2022 mainland yearly chart, with audience scores of 9.2 on Taopiaopiao and 9.0 on Maoyan[4](https://m.1905.com/m/news/vivo/1587974.shtml). A later accounting puts its final mainland total at 710 million yuan and its Hong Kong gross at 16.9 million HKD[14](https://zijing.com.cn/web/article/1457686686980001792/web/content_1457686686980001792.html). It did not, however, reach the 1.3-billion-yuan tier of recent Hong Kong hits such as *Raging Wings*, *[Shock Wave 2](https://www.edgepedia.org/shock-wave-2)*, and *The White Storm 2*, a gap commentators partly attributed to the weaker drawing power of the Lau Ching-wan and Raymond Lam pairing[15](https://m.1905.com/m/news/vivo/1586563.shtml).\n\nCritical response was divided along familiar lines. On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 100 percent critics' score from five reviews, with reviewers praising Wai's juggling of narrative threads and calling it \"a big ball of outlandish fun\" for fans of Hong Kong action thrillers[16](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/detective_vs_sleuths). Douban users settled at 7.1, with criticism aimed at loose ending logic, thin characterization, and the Mandarin dub[8](https://m.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_18959734) • [17](https://www.jiemian.com/article/7730769.html). Lau Ching-wan's performance was widely praised across both camps, and it won him the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor[17](https://www.jiemian.com/article/7730769.html) • [2](https://www.1905.com/mdb/film/2240907/info/).\n\nOverseas, the film was released across [East Asia](https://www.edgepedia.org/east-asia) and the West and later streamed on Disney+ and other platforms; in Malaysia it was the highest-grossing Chinese film of 2022[18](https://www.cnfilmrank.com/en/movies/1285). A sequel, *Detective vs. Sleuths 2*, with Wai Ka-Fai writing, has been reported in Chinese film-industry press[19](https://chinafilmnews.cn/UploadFiles/file/20230505/202305051005285194.pdf).\n\n## Themes and style\n\nCommentators place the film in the \"sleuth film\" (神探片) tradition Wai built at Milkyway Image, running from *The Suspect* (1995) through *Running on Karma* (2003), *Mad Detective* (2007), and *Blind Detective* (2013), all about investigators whose bodies or minds work abnormally[20](https://www.cfa.org.cn/cfa/yj/lwby72/2023042814011749056/index.html). Lee Jun is described as the most extreme of these figures: he converses with suspects in his imagination, an unscientific \"psychic\" ability that nonetheless directly solves cases[20](https://www.cfa.org.cn/cfa/yj/lwby72/2023042814011749056/index.html).\n\nThe film packs many notorious Hong Kong cases into its runtime, including the \"Rainy Night Butcher,\" \"Flying Corpse,\" \"Floating Corpse,\" \"Cooked Corpse,\" and \"Mad Cop\" cases, connecting it to the home-grown \"strange case\" (奇案片) genre[20](https://www.cfa.org.cn/cfa/yj/lwby72/2023042814011749056/index.html). The Nietzsche line \"he who fights with monsters should be careful lest he become a monster\" recurs three times in the film, anchoring its moral question of who the real \"sleuth\" is[20](https://www.cfa.org.cn/cfa/yj/lwby72/2023042814011749056/index.html).\n\n## References\n\n1. [神探大战, Emperor Motion Pictures official production page](https://www.emp.hk/cs/production/all/detective-vs-sleuths)\n2. [神探大战 详细资料, 1905电影网](https://www.1905.com/mdb/film/2240907/info/)\n3. [Detective vs. Sleuths 2022, Kinoafisha](https://www.kinoafisha.info/en/movies/8378412/)\n4. [电影《神探大战》破6亿 刘青云生猛再现重口案件, 1905电影网](https://m.1905.com/m/news/vivo/1587974.shtml)\n5. [2022年上映的首輪香港電影片目, 香港電影推廣服務科](https://www.fdc.gov.hk/tc/publication/HKFI%20Info2022_%20Full%20View_9.pdf)\n6. [Watch Detective vs. Sleuths, Disney+](https://www.disneyplus.com/en-sg/browse/entity-b8c4d904-c03c-4d7b-8bf2-b5eaca0be4f4)\n7. [韦家辉：《神探大战》不是续作，动作戏拍时紧张拍完兴奋, 新京报](https://m.bjnews.com.cn/detail/1657714265169208.html)\n8. [《神探大战》：一脚油门轰到底, 澎湃新闻](https://m.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_18959734)\n9. [时隔15年，港片再出封神之作, 澎湃新闻](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_19153125)\n10. [专访《神探大战》导演韦家辉：香港电影没死，但确实开工难, 凤凰网 via Sohu](https://www.sohu.com/a/570051058_603687)\n11. [《神探大战》：独特意味的角色塑形方法, 文汇报 via 中国作家网](https://www.chinawriter.com.cn/n1/2022/0712/c419388-32472462.html)\n12. [《神探大战》：港式IP的再出发, 澎湃新闻·镜象娱乐](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_19025692)\n13. [周票房：《神探大战》摘周冠 《人生大事》破14亿, 1905电影网](https://m.1905.com/m/news/vivo/1586597.shtml)\n14. [\"共情\"与\"共识\":浅议香港影评人的责任, 紫荆论坛](https://zijing.com.cn/web/article/1457686686980001792/web/content_1457686686980001792.html)\n15. [影市观察：暑期档上半场突破35亿, 1905电影网](https://m.1905.com/m/news/vivo/1586563.shtml)\n16. [Detective vs. Sleuths, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/detective_vs_sleuths)\n17. [从《神探》到《神探大战》，是韦家辉和银河映像的商业野心, 界面新闻](https://www.jiemian.com/article/7730769.html)\n18. [Detective vs Sleuths, CNFilmRank](https://www.cnfilmrank.com/en/movies/1285)\n19. [中国电影报 (2023-05-05), 中国电影报道](https://chinafilmnews.cn/UploadFiles/file/20230505/202305051005285194.pdf)\n20. [《神探大战》：暴力与哲理的混装, 中国电影艺术研究中心](https://www.cfa.org.cn/cfa/yj/lwby72/2023042814011749056/index.html)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works) › 2020–2022 films › Released in 2022*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/detective-vs-sleuths", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/detective-vs-sleuths.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Detective vs. Sleuths (神探大战)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/detective-vs-sleuths. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Detective vs. Sleuths (神探大战)](https://www.edgepedia.org/detective-vs-sleuths)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/detective-vs-sleuths](https://www.edgepedia.org/detective-vs-sleuths). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Detective vs. Sleuths (神探大战)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/detective-vs-sleuths. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Detective vs. Sleuths is a 2022 Hong Kong crime action film directed by Wai Ka-Fai, starring Lau Ching-wan as a disgraced detective hunting vigilante killers." }