The Thieves

The Thieves is a 2012 Korean heist/caper film. Here's your story: Gather a bunch of thieves & criminals together to hatch a plan to steal a diamond. That's it!...Well, Almost!

SPOILERS AHEAD!

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 sex appeal 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!

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.

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.

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