Linkshoch Wonderful Movie

Micitype Pretty Good

Murphy Howard I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Deanna There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Ipso Facto There are Some raving comments here that make me wonder about their group age.I am a big fan of Korean movies but not any Korean movies, only the great ones;and this one is definitely not one of them.It's pale with a painfully idiotic writing and horrendous acting .I got a headache trying to figure out what the hell was going on.The scriptwriter obviously wrote it while he was chilling out with the crew in Macau maybe because this is the kind of lame writing you churn out when you have no intention to exert the slightest amount of effort You can go to take a nap and come back and you will not miss anything because there's nothing there to miss. It's definitely a huge waste of time.

carbuff Wow, Koreans seem unstoppable these days. First their cars go from embarrassing to near aspirational, and now their movie industry makes Hollywood look like it's run by drunken, drooling, idiots (which, upon reflection, might actually not be too far removed from reality.) "The Thieves" is what "Ocean's Eleven" and all it's tedious, empty, shiny, sequels would be if they were the product of intelligent life. The plot is extremely clever and witty and keeps moving and taking unexpected twists and turns right up until the very end. The acting and cinematography are top notch, and when it's over you can't believe that more than 2 hours have passed, with subtitles at that. Even if I wanted to toss in spoilers, it would be difficult because the plot is so involved and only comes together in pieces as the movie progresses. Returning to my opening, this flick makes the best possible case that the "Ocean's" franchise should be shuttered, since this was so much better, and likely cost much less in total than what was lost to the "talent" alone in those tepid, vacuous, American productions. Plus, it comes with a 10-year warranty.

Derek Childs (totalovrdose) 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.

DICK STEEL The Thieves may look like Ocean's Eleven from the onset, with its star studded ensemble cast from South Korea and Hong Kong combining forces for the most parts in what would be a casino and jewel caper. But instead of having one primary heist as the central focus for all the characters, The Thieves present a whole lot more, used to introduce the different team's capabilities, and providing plenty of twists and turns as the story progressed. In short, it was a real treat and a wild ride to have the usual plot developments of the genre, with the betrayals and conflicting motivations all clashing together, and delivered with pin point perfection.In the South Korean camp, there's Lee Jung-Jae as Popie, de-facto leader, who had assembled his team consisting of slinky cat burglar Yenicall (Jeon Ji-Hyun), veteran and linguist Chewingum (Kim Hae-Suk), and cable operator Zampano (Kim Soo-Hyun), to fleece a rich curator. They get contacted by Macao Park (Kim Yun-Seok), one time ex-partner of Popie, who had dangled an opportunity for a casino and jewel raid, and for the job, Popie brings along Pepsee (Kim Hye-Soo), recently out on parole, much to Macao Park's displeasure. The complex job also requires the team work with the Hong Kong camp, whom Macao contacted for assistance, which means an expanded motley crew comprising of leader Chen (Simon Yam), safe-cracker Julie (Angelica Lee), and regular goons in Andrew (Oh Dai-Su) and Johnny (Kwok Cheung Tsang). But there's enough to go around, since the plan is to rob a jewel in the premises of a casino in Macau, then sell it back to its original owner, the mysterious Wei Hong (Ki Guk-Seo).The story by Choi Dong-Hun and Lee Gi-Cheol is kept extremely tight despite the myriad of characters involved, with director Choi expertly cutting through characters and their respective story arcs, with flashbacks used to introduce each and every one of them, coupled with surprises that throw up individual character motivations. This adds an extra spice to the proceedings, because like a poker game, we are the only ones who had a sneak peek into their respective roles, and what their intent is from the get go, with an expectation that things aren't always what they seem. We're lulled into complacency that we know it all, until another surprise gets thrown up to knock us off our balance. And doing so without cheating - which involves randomly or forcefully including unbelievable or illogical moments - was something of a feat.Which is pretty amazing, because the pace of the narrative is never let down, interspersing adrenaline pumping moments with quieter scenes, and the usual heist film montage expectation where the Plan gets played out as the team embarks on their surveillance and preparation work, before the real thing. And that only covers less than half the film, with the second half trading characters for more stunt work and action, and given that it's a Korean film after all, had its focus shifted back to the Korean actors. The way that characters come, go, and the narrative bringing up sub plots, work wonderfully well, especially in setting up what were to follow from surprising moments.But in a cinematic world where there is no honour amongst thieves, a romance also got thrown in to shake things up a little, especially when emotions play a key role in the building of various alliances and plans that each individual sets in motion in pursuing their self interests. It plays with what you know and have established, feeding you with new facts that would make you change your opinion about someone or some situation, and then decide who you would root for in this bunch of ten skilled professionals. They slag each other when there's opportunity to, backstab and form new partnerships, some even quite moving, especially when you know that Trust amongst the players is really a rare commodity.No effort got spared in designing the action and heist sequences in the movie, making it a delight to watch since things are kept relatively fresh. Tom Cruise's building climbing escapade is well documented in M:I: Ghost Protocol, and while they aren't scaling the highest building in the world here, the film more than made up for it in the frequency, number of people involved, and at a much faster pace thanks to technology being unavailable other than a strong cable, a threaded indication, and lots of guts.It's no surprise that this film has so far been South Korea's box office champion, given the slick execution of its action, and an all round good story involving boring cops and sexy/suave robbers. The handling of the languages here - Cantonese and Korean - in the way the characters interact, is a definite draw, as something that was handled close to perfection, because in the real world accents will come to play, and this one had attention to detail.