Lunar New Year always brings a fresh crop of Chinese blockbusters, and 2025 is no exception. One of the higher profile releases of the season is Detective Chinatown 1900, a rather unexpected prequel-come-spinoff of one of China’s most popular franchises. The first three films, which were a contemporary blend of silly comedy and detective stories, grossed in excess of US$1.3 billion between them. This fourth film jumps back more than 120 years to tell a story of the lead characters’ ancestors, with comedic mystery set in 1900 San Francisco. Fans of Chinese comedy will laugh. Mystery enthusiasts may find it a pleasant diversion. Most interesting are the film’s politics: a healthy emphasis on Chinese patriotism is to be expected. An underlying storyline about racist white Americans scapegoating immigrants for their social problems and politicians leveraging that hate into calls to deport all immigrants was quite a surprise. For a popular slice of entertainment, this Detective Chinatown is remarkably timely.

The film follows Qin Fu (Liu Haoran), a physician turned amateur sleuth, who teams up with an orphaned Chinese man (Wang Baoqiang) adopted by native Americans to solve a series of murders in San Francisco’s Chinatown. This is the fourth time around for Liu and Wang, and they honestly slip into roles like a comfortable pair of socks. Supporting work comes from Hong Kong legend Chow Yun-Fat, comic actor Yue Yunpeng, and – surprisingly – Hollywood veteran John Cusack.

Chow’s return to the screen after five years is a very welcome development, and he plays his part as local community leader Bai Xuanling with all expected charm and charisma for which he is renowned. Yue is a pitch-perfect highlight as a smug Chinese imperial official sent to arrest and detain republican activists in California. Cusack is making his second appearance in a Chinese film, having co-starred in Dragon Blade back in 2015. Here he plays a deeply racist American politician and mayoral candidate. The excess scenery-chewing seems a little odd coming from a typically naturalistic actor, but he fits the more heightened tone of Chinese comedy very well.

It is worth considering the film’s tone, which freewheels wildly between scenes of absurd, dialogue-based comedy and those of quite serious murder mystery. There is no concession made for the viewer who cannot manage to keep up with the shifts, nor for those who would prefer their films to stick to the one genre. Some scenes of white racism are rather confronting, although they jostle for room with scenes of Chinese actors playing native Americans as well as typically grand expressions of melodramatic patriotism. You will never doubt the country in which these film was made; it simply does not allow you to forget.

Beyond its typically rapid-fire editing and hyper-active camera movements – de rigueur for the genre and country – the film wears its influences on its sleeve. Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes is a key one, but it is easy to spot elements of The Lone Ranger and Gangs of New York as well. It is pastiche, of course, but done rather effectively.

There are wrinkles here and there, and debateable moments, but all in all Detective Chinatown 1900 is populist, breezy entertainment that is perfectly pitched for the New Year season. Directors Chen Sicheng and Dai Mo should be proud. Future instalments of the series, in whatever time period, seem assured.