Les Braqueurs

Oh, how I absolutely loved this film! I initially thought it was similar to 'Ocean's Eleven' with reference also to '21' (with Kevin Spacey) but as the film progressed, it became very different, and also very interesting. The group of thieves - supposed to work together - each has their own agenda, as well. A few twists and turns later we're in for a real treat with action, appropriate humor and also a good share of suspense.

The purported selling point here is so lazy and easy it's slutty: the most anticipated star-studded action blockbuster 2012! Unless The Thieves intends to pay homage to The Avengers, this year's only rightful owner to that headline, we can't verify the credibility of that audacious claim. Granted, the movie's A-list ensemble of the most bankable stars from around the region places it in a perfect position to sell itself to the usual fandom, but I'm usually sceptical of such an approach to filmmaking. The good news? The Thieves is everything it pledges to be in marketing and message – epic, smart, funny and well- shot. The bad news? It's not quite everything it needs to be.

Hardened robber Macao Park wants to steal a $20 million diamond from a casino in Macau. In order to pull off the perfect heist, he enlists the services of Korean and Chinese thieves. What looks to be a smooth heist suddenly shatters into a botched job as each thief begins to reveal their true motives and lots of betrayals and grudges surface before any thief can get to the diamond. The real winner here is Macao Park, who has deliberately assembled this double-crossing team of thieves so that he can escape with the diamond. Unfortunately, trouble catches up to him before he can safely pocket the prize. Each thief must now fight to survive and find the diamond before time runs out.

Let's face it: this is the sort of heist movie that can only look good with a greedy scale, even if it's with one that's only initially superficial. Director Choi Dong-hoon doesn't scrimp here, getting stars from Korea, Hong Kong and Malaysia and wrangling with a multilingual dialogue that speaks Korean, Mandarin, Japanese and English. It makes for an amusing preamble that sees our group of thieves engage in almost endless banter, effectively using the barriers of language to allow one party to criticize the other without the other actually realising it. The thieves eventually manage to pull their thinking caps together, navigating through the complex security at the casino with an equally cartoonish verve. So far, so good, right?

That question is important because the movie totally loses control once it hits the second half. I'll admit upfront that the movie is very smart – or at least its multitude of subplots is. But the fundamental problem with The Thieves is that it has well over a dozen major characters competing for screen time. I can't stress enough how a burgeoning character count is to the detriment of a movie's quality. With so many personal agendas / betrayals / grudges on offer, The Thieves struggles to tie all its subplots into a concise, clear and easily comprehensible script, instead allowing them to dart uncontrollably in all directions. It's incredibly labourious to keep track of who's doing what or even which diamond is real. Above all else, The Thieves would have worked better as a TV serial; condensed into movie length, it wears out any form of sanity too quickly.

That's not to say The Thieves isn't without any more charms. The movie is a stacked deck of balletically choreographed action scenes that become increasingly daring, and we dare say reckless, as it progresses. Characters are allowed to fight in places that don't traditionally grace the screen for action scenes, including an elevator shaft and the surface of a building. There's an action scene which, in the perfect storm of horrible coincidence, is virtually the same as Tom Cruise's vertiginous adventure on the surface of Dubai's Burj Khalifa tower in last year's Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. The only thing that's better than this action segment is the relentless pace at which the movie pumps out gunfire.

Watching The Thieves is like flirting with James Bond. You get a curious mix of charisma and danger, and you don't know whether you should stay or leave: the charisma is appealing, but the danger is off-putting. The Thieves is far from perfection, but if you're willing to overlook the messy second half and indulge in the amusement and exhilaration of the package, then this so-called most anticipated star-studded action blockbuster 2012 is worth a visit to the cinema.

Finally I got a chance to watch "The Thieves" ("Dodookdeul"), and the wait was well worth it. This movie was fantastic in every aspect.

The story is about a group of Korean and Hong Kong thieves who come together for a mutual heist to steal a very expensive diamond. But things take a turn for the worse and the heist doesn't go as planned. Alliances are forged and broken, and the game of deception runs high, and just what is honor amongst thieves truly worth?

I will say that the storyline was compelling and interesting. Sure it could be compared to "Oceans Eleven" and with elements of "Mission Impossible" in it, but it would be a shame to do so, because "The Thieves" is unique in its own right.

The story was not predictable and just as you thought you had figured out what was next, the movie took an unforeseen turn and totally throws off the audience. This is the part that I really like about the storyline, it was kept fresh and constantly on the toes.

Director Dong-Hoon Choi have managed to put together a great movie that is entertaining, exciting and thrilling. And what really helps the movie along nicely are the people on the cast list. Wow! They really have some of the great talents from both the Korean and Hong Kong cinema alike. Gianna Jun, Simon Yam and Jung-Jae Lee really go all the way here and carry the movie so nicely.

"The Thieves" is a definite 'must' watch movie of you enjoy Asian cinema, regardless of your preference to Korean or Hong Kong cinema.

This movie is a clear 8 out of 10 stars without a doubt.

The Thieves is a South Korean movie that will demand your full attention.

The good. An ensnaring story line that will push you to see it to the end with a ever greater astonishments. The scenario is incredibly well built with plots within plots, revenge, love, distrust, and new twists at every turn. No character is safe from death. A Ton of action. Good editing and camera work. Nice sets.

The bad. A few cliché. Shallow motivations.

The ugly. The afro-hair Chinese thief who's not a very good actor.

The result. Great entertainment, but don't expect any depth.

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