K-20: Kaijin niju menso den 2008

Movie: K-20: The Fiend With Twenty Faces / K-20: Legend of the Mask
Romaji: K-20: Kaijin niju menso den
Japanese: K-20　怪人二十面相・伝
Director: Shimako Sato
Writer: So Kitamura (Novel), Shimako Sato
Producer: Shuji Abe, Seiji Okuda
Cinematography:
Release Date: December 20, 2008
Runtime: 137 min.
Genre: Action / Adventure / Mystery
Movie Studio: Toho, NTV
Distributor: Toho
Language: Japanese
Country: Japan

Plot

Story takes place in the 1940’s, in a fictional Japan, where the country is dominated by the upper class and the country suffers from a huge income disparity between the rich and poor. During this time, an evil masked villain named “K-20” roams around Japan stealing priceless artifacts. Always on the trail of K-20 is his arch nemesis Akechi (Toru Nakamura) – a suave detective. When Akechi announces his engagement to the rich heiress Yoko Hashiba (Takako Matsu), K-20 warns Akechi to call off the wedding or he’ll be there to make his biggest heist yet.

Meanwhile a good natured circus performer named Keikichi Endo (Takeshi Kaneshiro) is hired by a mysterious figure to snap photos of Akechi and Yoko’s wedding. Keikichi is unaware that his employer is in fact the evil K-20 and he’s being set up to be his fall guy …

Notes

Based on Edogawa Rampo’s “Kogoro Akechi” detective novels, but re-written by Shimako Sato. Time setting has shifted from the early 1900’s to 1949, while the primary location has changed from Tokyo to the fictional city of Teito.
Related titles:
1. Kogoro Akechi vs. The Fiend with Twenty Faces | Akechi Kogoro Tai Kaijin Niju Menso (TBS / 2002)