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!
