South Korean film “Dr. Cheon and Lost Talisman” is a curious case of how a sub-standard piece of work can be redeemed at times by the compelling presence of its engaging lead actor. Whenever the camera looks at him, he is somehow always entertaining and interesting to watch, and it is a shame that the movie itself is more or less than your average TV pilot instead of being, uh, cinematic.

Gang Dong-won, who has been one of the most prominent star actors in South Korean cinema since “Jeon Woo-chi: The Taoist Wizard” (2009) and “Secret Reunion” (2010), plays Dr. Cheon, who is supposedly a fake shaman but turns out to be more resourceful and gifted than expected. During the opening part hilariously featuring the two main cast members from “Parasite” (2019), Dr. Cheon and his technical assistant Inbae (Lee Dong-hwi) visit a rich family who seems to be in the need of some exorcism, and Dr. Cheon and Inbae skillfully handle the situation even though their plan does not go that well at the last minute. Yes, they are surely conning this wealthy family, but Dr. Cheon does not have much qualm on that because, well, he simply gives them what they want – and he is pretty good at sensing and then providing whatever his clients want.

Not long after they finish their latest job, Dr. Cheon and Inbae are approached by a young woman named Yoo-kyung (Esom). Dr. Cheon is not so eager to take her case because she looks too serious to handle for him, but then he quickly changes his mind once he sees a big bag of cash she brings to him, so he and Inbae soon follow her as she leads them to a little rural village where she has resided with her younger sister.

Right from their arrival in the village, Dr. Cheon senses something weird and suspicious, and his suspicion is confirmed when he subsequently confronts what Yoo-kyung has been struggling with in her house. She believes that her younger sister is possessed by some bad spirit, and she also thinks she can see spirits and ghosts. Dr. Cheon is skeptical at first, but, what do you know, he soon comes to realize that what he is handling is not a merely troubling domestic problem at all, and that is when he becomes much more serious than before. As a matter of fact, he is actually from a family of shamans, and his father, who has incidentally been dead for years, was one of the most powerful ones in the country.

Through an old associate of Dr. Cheon, we get to know about what happened to Dr. Cheon when he was young. There was a mighty evil figure quite hungry for more power and influence just like Harry Potter’s arch-nemesis, and this figure in question eventually targeted Dr. Cheon’s father as a part of his diabolical plan. Although Dr. Cheon’s father could stop his opponent before he died, his opponent, who has been imprisoned for years by an almost unbreakable talisman made by Dr. Cheon’s father, is now planning to escape, and he is targeting Yoo-kyung for snatching her psychic ability, which happens to be crucial for his escape.

The story eventually revolves around Dr. Cheon and several other main characters’ bumpy quest for locating where the two divided parts of that talisman are as well as where that powerful evil figure in question is lurking. While he remains imprisoned in his secret lair, this evil dude can exert some strong psychic power from the distance while being assisted by a group of disciples, and there is a spooky action scene later in the story where Dr. Cheon and Yoo-kyung have to deal with one possessed attacker after another.

In the meantime, the movie shows some sense of humor from time to time. Although its special effects mostly look cheap and silly on the whole, the performers in the film play as straight as possible even when surrounded by a lot of rudimentary CGIs on the screen. I was particularly amused by how they mostly look serious during one goofy scene involved with a certain shaman who may actually help their urgent mission, and I also like when the movie goes all the way for flashier special effects in the middle of the climax sequence.

However, the movie does not have enough space for character development, and many of its main characters feel rather underdeveloped on the whole. In case of the main villain of the story, he surely looks as scary and gruesome as required, and Huh Joon-ho did a fairly good job on that, but he is still no more than the villain of the week while his disciples do not have much personality beyond their evil appearance.

Anyway, Gang steadily holds the center with his engaging performance which becomes sort of endearing along the story with his character’s cool and detached attitude, and I am actually interested in watching whatever he will do next in the possible sequels to come. While she is sometimes limited by her thankless supporting character, Esom is effective as Gang’s counterpart, and Lee Dong-hwi, Kim Jong-soo, and Park Jeong-min are also fun to watch in their respective comic supporting roles.

Overall, “Dr. Cheon and Lost Talisman”, directed by Kim Seong-sik, is merely the opening chapter for its franchise (It is based on Fresh and Kim Hong-tae’s popular webtoon “Possessed”, by the way). At least, it is mildly watchable mainly thanks to the good efforts from Kang and several other main cast members. and, considering the positive reactions from many audiences around me I observed yesterday, it may succeed enough in the local box office to produce the following sequels. Seriously, I really hope that I will be more entertained in the next time.