You
do not simply leave a cult like the GU Group, even if you are the modern day
reboot of the Joseon Korea’s celebrated literary Robin Hood character. However,
Hong Gil-dong’s mother sacrificed her life so that her young son could escape
to freedom. Instead of wealth redistribution, the adult Hong is more concerned
with stone cold revenge in screenwriter-director Jo Sung-hee’s Phantom Detective (trailer here), which opens
today in New York.
Ever
since the night Hong fled the cult village his capacity to feel fear and
empathy were short-circuited. Of course that is not such a bad thing for a
sworn vengeance seeker. His steeliness also serves him well in his chosen profession.
Technically, the glamorous President Hwang’s father chose him to work for the
powerful family’s detective agency, but Hong immediately took to the work. Most
cases he can close in an eerily short span of time. The only exception is his
own. Finally, Hong beats a lead out of some unsavory elements as to the
whereabouts of Kim Byung-duk, the man who killed his mother, but following it
up will take him down quite a rabbit hole.
Oddly
enough, Hong discovers GU Squirrel Busters have already abducted the apostate
Kim before his arrival. Not to be denied his vengeance, Hong enlists young
Dong-yi and Mal-soon under false pretenses to help find their guardian grandpa.
His initial intentions are questionable, but he reluctantly broadens his focus
after uncovering evidence the GU Group is planning mass murder.
Viewers
should be duly warned: Dong-yi and Mal-soon will have to be aggressively cute
to melt Hong’s frozen heart. They will definitely give the heartstrings a
workout. As a short term consequence, Hong comes across as a thoroughly
despicable jerkweed. At least they are surrounded by engaging and endearing
villagers, like the former mob muscle turned likable lug innkeeper (not
overplayed by the surprisingly effective Jung Sung-hwa).
Jo
maintains the weird tone throughout the film, cranking up the paranoia while
depicting Hong as almost supernaturally hardboiled. Frankly, the tone is not so
very different from the 20th
Century Boys franchise, which is a good thing. To that end, Byun Bong-sun’s
film noir cinematography is just stylized enough to be unsettling but not
enough to distract from the action at hand.
In
his first film since completing his mandatory military service, Lee Je-hoon
fully commits to Hong’s iceman persona, while Roh Jung-Eui and Kim Ha-na are
duly heart-rending as Kim’s granddaughters. For extra, added fun, Go Ara entertainingly
vamps it up in her too brief scenes as President Hwang. Yet, it is Kim Sung-kyun
who really delivers the genre goods as Kang Sung-il, the ruthless son of the GU
Group’s corrupt guru. He has played heavies before, but he takes it to the next
level up in Phantom.