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.

cremea 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!

moviexclusive 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.

Harry T. Yung The incorporation of 4 women (three very pretty, one would have been very pretty twenty years ago) does give this flick considerable added appeal. The resemblance to "Ocean's" series, however, is limited. While both involve robbing a casino, the complexity of the job here is child's play compared with George Clooney's schemes. On the other hand, this one strives on relationships between the various people in the gang, present and past – betrayals, romances, policy undercover, double-crosses. The main stage is Korea while the action takes place is Macau, with planning and aftermath scenes in Hong Kong.I shall make no attempt to deconstruct the plot and sub-plots, the events, the roles, apparent and real. What follows is only an attempt to briefly outline the line-up, hopefully spoiler-free.The guiding spirit of the project is Macao Park (Kim Yun-seok) who brings together 9 people, 4 from Hong Kong and 5 from Korea, to help him steal a 20-million-US-dollar diamond currently kept at a casino in Macau. The idea is to fend the spoil to connoisseurs in the Southeast Asia. Among the potential buyers is the owner of the jewel himself, a powerful kingpin so mysterious that only two members of the gang claim to have seen him.The Hong Kong group of 4 is much simpler, comprising leader Chen (Simon Yam), safe-cracking expert Julie (Angelica Lee) and two gunmen Andrew and Johnny. Julie has learned her trade from her father, reminding you of Charlize Theron in the new "Italian Job". Andrew is the designated clown in the group. The only thing special about Johnny is that he is played by Derek Tsang, Eric Tsang's son.The Korean group of 5 has a much more complex history of relationships. The movie actually opens with job lead by Popeye (Lee Jung-jae) who worked with Marco a few years ago. His present 3 team members however do not know Macao, except by reputation. Gianna Jun, sassy as ever and sexier than usual, plays a sort of spider woman Yenicall. Chewingum is a middle-aged woman, veteran but bottle-addicted. Zampano is a young pretty boy fierce in combat. Together with Popeye, involved in the aforementioned job with Macao a few years ago is beautiful Pepsi (Kim Hye-soo), just released from a jail term for her involvement in the job while Macao and Popeye were not caught. While on the surface, the trio act as if they have forgotten and forgiven (not sure who should forgive whom at this point) the ominous undercurrent is stirred up by intermittent flashbacks.It is not difficult to follow the characters and their multi-dimension interactions are interesting. The good action sequences, including a couple of showy set pieces, make up for the lacking in subtleties. The two-hour-plus screen time will pass unnoticed, enjoyably.