The Thieves

The Thieves
2012; directed by Choi Dong-Hoon

Simon Yam is one of the leads in an all-star cast and crew in The Thieves, a Hong Kong/Korean co-production that became one of Korea's all-time box office hits. The film is unabashedly "inspired" by the Ocean's Eleven series, and doesn't really do anything to break the mold when it comes to heist pictures. But it gets enough done with its' star power to breeze by quickly enough to make this a good brainless "popcorn" movie.

The Thieves    The Thieves

In the film, Simon plays Chen, who leads a group of thieves that is teamed with one from South Korea that is led by Pepsi (Kim Hye-Soo) to steal a valuable jewel from a casino in Macau. As you might expect, the two teams don't get along, since each wants a bigger share -- and things get even more complicated when it becomes apparent that the man who set up the job, Park (Kim Yoon-Seok), has his own agenda.

The Thieves    The Thieves

While the story is a fine enough base, the movie adds too many elements into the mix, and things drag down as a result. Like a lot of major Korean releases, The Thieves comes off as running for too long. Clocking in at 136 minutes, there is a feeling that the film is perhaps a bit too stuffed for its' own good, as even the more minor characters are given their own arcs. Granted, this particular reviewer is not all that familiar with Korean cinema or the stars involved, so maybe I didn't get as much enjoyment as someone who is a fan of the actors would, but at any rate, it's hard to not say that there could have been some elements trimmed out in order to make the film move along quicker.

The Thieves    The Thieves

That being said, The Thieves still provided a good amount of fun, mostly through Simon Yam's performance. It's no secret that he's one of my (along with many Hong Kong film fans) favorite actors. He's the sort of actor that could probably make an insurance commercial or instructional video on how to boil water interesting, so it's probably no coincidence that he was given such a meaty role in this production. Most of the actors involved look to be having fun also, and that feeling passes onto the viewer. And that's probably what matters most, because, really, this is not really the sort of release that you're meant to take too seriously to begin with. Like a Lunar New Year film, The Thieves uses its' star power in place of outstanding technically sound and thought-provoking film-making to hold the audience's interest, and in that sense, it succeeds.

RATING: 6

This movie is available from Amazon.

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