Phantom Detective

Hong Gil-dong (Lee Je-hoon) is a detective with a mission: to find the man who murdered his mother in front of his childhood self and avenge her death. For years, he has worked as a detective in the large organization headed by the sister of the wealthy family that adopted him, learning the skills he needs to track this killer down. When he finally has his target in sight, however, members of a mysterious gang kidnap the man, leaving his two young granddaughters distraught and not sure where to turn. Hong tells the girls that he can find their relative, but he needs them to come with him on the journey, and so the three set off together. The girls hope Hong will save their grandfather, but they don't know the reason he's hunting him…. That's a very brief description of the set-up of this extremely convoluted story; there are more twists and turns here than I've seen in a film in a very long time! Nobody is who they seem to be and nobody's motives are what they appear. Well, except maybe for the two girls - I wish I knew the names of the child actors, who are excellent (particularly the 8-year-old, perpetually snot-faced, younger kid). There's an awful lot to like in this movie, both because of its hard-boiled aspect, its tender one and its sheer over-the-top action. One thing I'm not sure of is its time frame; there are references (visual and otherwise) to the 1980s, but the clothing and cars, among other indications, seem to hark back to the 1930s. If that anachronistic visualization doesn't derail you, however, you're in for a heck of a packed, exciting and ultimately satisfying two hours!

A detective looking for a kidnapped oldman and he takecare his grandaughters as well..whike he searching that oldman he knows many truths behind him and kidnappers... Must watch movie..!!

Everything positive already written! I found myself laughing out loud, often! The youngest female child actor was so on par with the older actors she stole many scenes imho. It's a Korean "noir" type and it doesn't miss a beat from start to finish and was immensely enjoyable. Don't miss out!

A mixture of Sherlock Holmes and other revenge stories set in Korea. Interesting to watch, but, at times it feels too artificial and becomes like a graphical novel. Comedy was ok, but, mostly untimely and misplaced.

This was one of the weirdest movies I've seen, but I will admit that it was definitely entertaining! It had a bizarre mix of styles, like a 40's gangster movie mixed with Mad Max and Sherlock Holmes. The story is somewhat non-nonsensical, but you can follow along as long as you don't try to pick it apart. The heart of the movie, and really the best part, was the found-family aspect between the detective and the two little girls. A mix of comedy and poignant moments between him and the girls made this the most decent part of the movie. The background plot didn't make a lot of sense but was visually entertaining, culminating in a gun fight scene that was very well done and visually thrilling.

If you are a fan of Lee Je-Hoon this will probably be good enough to sit through. It's an okay movie but I think most people will not like it due to its confusing plot and the way the viewer is thrown into the world without much context or explanation.