Chung hang sei hoi

Once A Thief is the first collaboration between John Woo and Chow Yun-Fat after their hugely successful THE KILLER. The movie is about three art thieves that want to still just ONE more picture before they retire. As always it is rather predictable that something very dramatic will happen, but you`ll have to see the movie to find out exactly what. Once a Thief can be called a romantic violence-comedy. The actionscenes are nicely directed, but you won`t be blown away by them as by those in THE KILLER. I don`t like many of the jokes in Once A thief. I think most of them are rather corny and just plain stupid. This is a nice example, where a Hong-kongfilm is TOO weird for a Western audience to really appriciate. But I`m sure that Eastern fans will love it to bits, I didn`t. Worth a look though, and a million times better than the EXTREMELY POOR American re-make from 1996. 7,5/10

John Woo's "Once a Thief" is a pretty entertaining movie which is original and clever like most other Woo films. It's mostly a suspense thief picture with lots of comedy mixed in with a romantic love-triangle and a little bit of Chow Yun-Fat/John Woo gunplay action of course. There is never any blood -let in this rather light film. I think John Woo wanted to tone down the violence and put more suspense/comedy in his well-known balance scale. It's pretty obvious when the usually trigger-happy Chow Yun Fat spares the life of a threatening gangster and kicks him out of a window instead. That might be along the "Die Hard" Hollywood terms, but for loyal Chow and Woo fans, it's very surprising. The storyline is one of Woo's most simple and innocent, but it set the film up for a couple of robberies which will grip you until the end. Leslie Cheung is dead serious and good as always, Chow Yun Fat is in his "Better Tomorrow II" mood: his lighter, more comedic mode which is somewhat more likeable. This mode is usually used for Woo's lighter, less serious films which don't need much acting. Chow's "Killer" serious mood is what made him famous for, but he doesn't suit that mood as well as this movie's character does.

Chow Yun Fat, Leslie Cheung and Cherie Chung make an attractive trio of art thieves who are double-crossed by gangsters after pulling off a job. Naturally they plot revenge. The story emphasis here is on elaborate and suspenseful heists being played out, and on charming banter amongst the main trio of characters, with the violent gun action largely reserved for the finale. The tone is lighter than most of Woo's film of this period, and the characters are more enjoyable. The glossy look reminds the viewer of the elaborate heist movies in vogue in the middle 60s, such as The Pink Panther or Topkapi and this one is similarly enjoyable time-passer.

It's a good caper with some nice tension and action. Better acting than you would expect in a movie like this.

This film is in a different vein to John Woo's other films, the body count is lower than in any other of his heroic bloodshed movies. He uses martial arts more than in any other, and the infinitely charismatic Chow Yun Fat, played his role more like Benny Hill than clint Eastwood(Although Mr Chow, versatile as he is can play comedy just as well as his silent assassin, or the take no prisoners cop.) The departure from the standard Woo, high bodycount, 2 hour long shoot out type of film come from the fact that he had just made his two darkest films "The Killer" and "Bullet in the head". "At that time the world thought I was a very pessimistic guy" said Woo "but I just wanted to show to the world that I was actually an optimisic guy. I always think there's hope and beauty in the world" hence this light hearted film, in the style of an old heist movie. The plot centers around three highly skilled are thieves played by Chow Yun Fat, Cherie Chung and Leslie Cheung, involved in a love triangle. Although not as developed as "a better tomorrow", as beautifully cinematic as "The Killer" or as "brutally high octane as "a better tomorrow 2" and the fantastic "Hard boiled". This piece delivers, and is still miles better than anything that could come out of Hollywood. (with the possible exception of John Woo's american projects) If you know you would like this film go and buy it. I did, and although I paid a ridiculouly high price for it, I knew that Woo and Chow would not dissapoint, so it was money well spent.