Sluggish case fails to offer intrigue
There’s at least one hyphen too many where the intermittently entertaining South Korean historicalmystery-adventure-comedy-drama “The King’s Case Note” is concerned.
There’s a workable Holmes-Watson dynamic in this yarn about a king who sets out with a loyal but somewhat clueless savant assistant to unmask the perpetrators behind a conspiracy to dethrone him. However, the peripatetic tone fails to hold viewer attention.
When he takes a position as official royal historian, scholar Seo (Ahn Jae-hong) doesn’t quite realize the job description goes considerably beyond chronicling every word of the glib King Yejong (Lee Sun-kyun).
Seo’s attention to detail and photographic memory comes in handy for the more pressing task at hand — embarking on a caper that will pit them against a giant ghost fish, ominous scarecrows and lethal herbs, among other challenges.
Unfortunately, as choreographed by director Moon Hyun-Sung, the adventure seldom gets up to speed, and on the occasions it threatens to come to life, the pedestrian action sequences fail to compensate for that lethargic pace. Given the intriguing era (the story takes place during the 500-year Joseon Dynasty, which ended with Japan’s annexation of Korea) and comic chemistry between Lee and Ahn, one is left hoping for a case that isn’t so mechanically open and shut. “The King’s Case Note.” In Korean with English subtitles. Rating: Not rated. Running time: 1 hour, 54 minutes. Playing: CGV Cinemas, Los Angeles; CGV Cinemas, Buena Park.