The Thieves (2012)

It looks not bad, but too long. From the director of 'Woochi' and 'Assassination', though it came between them and I'm seeing it now since I liked them both. An international cast film, I mean some well known Korean and Hong Kong actors in this multi-starrer. The story of two thief gangs joins hands to steal a diamond necklace in a casino in Macau. It's a team work, everyone is assigned to do their part, but due to some old incidents, they lose trust on one another. Followed by betrayal, how the heist takes place and what happens to them comes in the final quarter.The actors were good, but their roles were so usual. At least the story looked better, but too much drag in the first half. Once their work begins to take off, the narration with those stunt sequences gets interesting. Even though I felt it should have been better, the screenplay should have kept tight. With so many characters, too many twists. So feels like it all jammed, though none of them were stunning enough, particularly a theme like this needed one that. I have seen a better heist film, I bet did as well, so this film won't surprise, but okay for watching once.6/10

There are many aspects of this film that distinctly separates it from others. For one, the characterization - it's superb. Over time, through development and flashback, the characters become significantly fleshed out, and though the audience may initially appreciate a character at the beginning of the narrative, by the end, it might be an entirely different story, our loyalties continuously shifting, as do those of the individuals on screen.Secondly, the stunts: the fact the feature isn't filled with continuous action sequences allows us to appreciate them so much more. They are brilliantly executed, highly exhilarating, and occasionally, even with suspension of disbelief applied, beyond fathomable. Thirdly, the script - characters are witty, sassy and subtly cutthroat. Never is the script reduced to slapstick or cliché one-liners, the well executed humor at the hands of the talented actors being as fresh and fluid as one could ever hope to witness.Fourthly, the suspense. Alongside some of the hectic stunts, the film offers nail-biting entertainment as loyalties are tested and plans abseil out of control, to the extent, the question isn't so much 'who will walk away with the prize?' as it is, 'whose going to come out of this alive?' Fifthly, the music - it's rarely too serious or too laid back, immersing the viewer into the experience. Sixth, the visuals - their gorgeous. Macau and Hong Kong vibrantly come to life in a mixture of dazzling bright colors, supported by brilliant framing and directing that is truly captivating. In this sense, the feature isn't just an entertaining thrill ride - it's a gorgeous vacation - with guns, and thieves, and gold.Yenicall (Gianna Jun, who is especially outstanding in this film) is a superbly athletic thief, working alongside a crew consisting of Chewingum (Kim Hae-Sook) and Zampano (Kim Soo-Hyun), the leader of their outfit, Popie (Lee Jung-Jae), finding them a job working with an old partner of his, Macao Park (Kim Yun-Seok), who he detests for reasons that are explained over the course of the feature.Trust is a luxury that is unaffordable, and even less so when the South Korean team travel to Hong Kong to meet an equally talented group of Chinese thieves they will be working with over the duration of the job: to steal the Tear of the Sun, a prized diamond that can be sold for 20 million. Leading the Chinese team is Chen (Simon Yam), alongside Andrew (Oh Dal-Su), Johnny (Kwok Cheung Tsang) and Julie (Angelica Lee). The character who is most shocked of all however is Macao, to discover that Popie has brought with him an undisclosed thief, recently released from prison: Pepsee (Kim Hye-Soo), whose loathing of Macao's character, alongside her love for him, is explored throughout the film.Though there are more men participating in the film than women, the story fantastically allows the women to continuously be at the forefront of the plot, each of them with sizable, engaging roles that occasionally overshadow their male counterparts. With each of the thieves having agendas of their own, and with nothing been too sacred, or too illegal to try, the ever continuous suspense constantly submerges the audience as they try to figure out who will experience, as Yenicall calls it, a 'happy ending.' There's little else I can write to convince you, dear reader, to watch this particular film, except - you will be doing yourself a serious disservice by not doing so.

The Asian cinema that has most impressed me is usually of the horror genre, but this one actually stood out as a regular action flick. You will see a distinct similarity to the Ocean's serial, but it competently makes its own mark with multiple subplots that work as well as an almost dizzying amount of twist and turns. The humor translates better than almost any other Asian film I've seen, which is probable because my copy was subtitles only, there was no English dubbing available. Even with the extended run-time, the pace is quick and crisp, with no plodding moments or stalls. It keeps moving all the way to the credits, a great popcorn movie.

SPOILERS, SPOILERS, SPOILERS.Here's your story: Gather a bunch of thieves & criminals together to hatch a plan to steal a diamond…That's it!...Well, Almost!The comparisons to this film being a Korean version of "Ocean's Eleven" simply can't be avoided. And, if you're asking "Why should I waste my time watching that?" …The answer is because IT IS a KOREAN VERSION!When you watch "Ocean's Eleven", you know the worst thing that will happen to Clooney & Pitt & the Gang is a couple of punches in the face and/or slaps on the wrist, or maybe some minimal jail time…there's nothing wrong with that; it can all be great fun when done well. But, this is a Korean production, so, Anything Goes Here!!! (and, it certainly does Go!).This movie has a quite a bit going for it. First & foremost, the acting is top notch throughout, and, each of actors and actresses they gathered together here get their chance to strut their stuff. The cast is packed full of talented stars (in Asia anyway), and it's really hard to take your eyes off of any one person when it's their time to step to the plate (regardless of age, sex, or role). Everyone really plays off each other quite well, so much so that it seems they've been working together as a cohesive unit for some time…this is even all the more impressive when you consider this is a Pan Asian ensemble cast that has to overcome language barriers while snappily working their way through some well scripted, and witty dialogue. The film eventually tightens its focus more on the Korean stars for the most part, but this is a Korean production, so that is to be expected.The story is pretty decent overall…nothing fancy or overly challenging (at least until your figure out who's doing what to whom and what everybody's motives are). The first half of the film primarily brings everybody together to work on the plan to steal the diamond, while revealing their past histories and present interpersonal relationships. The second half ultimately brings all their story lines and individual objectives to a head under a heavy dose of fairly impressive action scenes.Production values are quite high here, and, it might be the most slickly made and stylized film I've ever seen come out of Asia…I'm used to seeing increasingly high production values from Asian cinema over the last decade plus, but this film is really pushing the limits of what an Asian "Big Picture" can be. If this is what bodes for the future of this type of Asian action cinema, then I'm on board 100%! (PROVIDED, they don't lose their heart & soul along the way, which is what made films from this part of the world so enticing to begin with).Perhaps what I like best about this movie is that it is just flat out sexy, and, I don't mean that in a 'let's get naked & have sex kind of way'. It just oozes a certain kind of subtle sex appeal vibe and undercurrent throughout as a result of its stylized story arcs, character back stories, and star performances. It's also quite romantic at times, and, is not without its comedic moments. For what is essentially a 'popcorn action flick' with little room for excess, it does make a solid & effective effort to infuse a sexy/romantic/comedic aspect, which it pulls off quite well.This is by no means what I would consider a great film, but it is just a crap ton of fun, and I loved just about everything about it. It's solidly made and quickly paced (despite its 2.25 hour run time), and, it is often incredibly entertaining. There's really very little not to like here in all honesty…If you're looking for a high octane action caper with a decent enough amount of substance behind it, you might want to check this movie out pretty soon.So, from a reasonable and realistic prospective, this film should probably rate at about 7 out of 10 stars or so overall. But, I liked this flick way better than that, so I'm bumping it up to 8 out of 10 stars…Totally Recommended!