Kwon Sang-Woo and Sung Dong-Il return for this sequel to the 2015 hit Korean action-comedy, where they solve a series of disappearances.
After having helped legendary detective Noh Tae-Soo, comic book store owner Kang Dae-Min has decided to sell the business and open a detective agency with Tae-Soo. However, things are not going as planned as no one is willing to hire them for a case. This puts pressure on both men as Dae-Min’s wife has no idea that her husband has sold his business and Tae-Soo, who was set for near retirement, gave it up for the agency, making his wife angry.
However, when the fiancée of a man named Kim, who suspects her fiancé has died, hires the two when the police are unable to do anything, they seek opportunity when she offers them $50,000. Tae-Soo hires Hopper, an expert yet bumbling hacker to help them trace phones and more for 10 percent of the cut. As they begin their investigation, they discover more disappearances that all seem to have a connection. However, when their investigation gets deeper and more evidence is found, the detectives soon find their personal lives intertwining with the case, much to the chagrin of their spouses. Will they be able to handle both the case and their personal lives or will everything come crashing down?
A sequel to the 2015 Korean action-comedy, this film brings back the duo of Kwon Sang-Woo and Sung Dong-Il as Dae-Min, the now former comic book owner with Sherlock Holmes-deduction skills and a veteran detective who have now opened up their own agency in the hopes of helping others out. Having yet to see the original, it is clear why the original was a hit. Because in this sequel, the chemistry between Kwon and Sung is a delight to watch as they bicker at times like an old married couple with the veteran ex-detective providing some comic relief when at the wrong (or right depending on your tastes) moments, decides to break wind just to get a rile out of his partner.
Another factor in the film’s comic antics lies in the character of Hopper, played by Lee Kwang-Soo. Hopper is quite an interesting character as it is revealed he is a former member of the Cyber Crimes Unit who got in trouble for tracking his wife and family. He constantly finds himself unwilling to help out the duo unless there is money involved. To make matters worse, Tae-Soo’s police connections find themselves in hot water under the new captain Kwon, who tends to look for ways to insult the veteran due to his opening the agency and taking more freelance cases.
Despite the comic overtones, the film does have its serious and tense moments, notably when it comes to the so-called heroic duo having to juggle between their family issues and the case. While Tae-Soo’s wife is unhappy from the very beginning, it makes things worse when Tae-Soo’s own daughters tend to ignore him perhaps because of his job doing police work or in this case, investigation, taking his time away from them. In Dae-Min’s case, it is bad enough he doesn’t tell his wife that he sold his business to open the agency, but in one very near heartbreaking moment, Dae-Min ‘s son is nearly kidnapped from his taekwondo class due to his involvement with the case. This explains why both detectives must handle their family life before handling the investigation.
The Accidental Detective 2: In Action has some funny comic moments as well as tense moments when it comes to the personal lives of our heroes. However, the chemistry between Kwon Sang-Woo and Sung Dong-Il is great and Lee Kwang-Soo just adds the comic relief to fun effect.
WFG RATING: B+
CJ Entertainment presents a Cree Pictures production. Director: e.Oni. Writer: Jung Han-Jin; based on characters created by Kim Jung-Hoon.
Cast: Kwon Sang-Woo, Sung Dong-Il, Lee Kwang-Soo, Seo Young-Hee, Lee Il-Hwa, Nam Myung-Ryul, Son Dam-Bi, Choi Sung-Won, Kim Dong-Wook.
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