The Macao job
Created: October 13, 2012 Last Updated: October 13, 2012
Oh Dal-soo (L) and Lee Jung-jae (R) flee the police in the crime-action film ?The Thieves.? (Caper Films)
In the movies, casinos exist just so they can be taken down. However, one Korean criminal mastermind is not just pulling a heist because the casino is there, like Everest in downtown Macao. He is out for payback. Nor is he the only one looking to settle scores in Choi Dong-hoon?s Thieves, which opens this Friday in New York.
A monster hit in Korea, The Thieves has just about all the classic heist movie elements. There is Popie, the cynical ringleader; Yenicall, his hot new accomplice to shimmy about in Cat Woman suits; and her predecessor, Pepsee, fresh out of prison. They have been recruited for a job in the former Portuguese colony by the man Popie and Pepsee blame for her incarceration?their former partner, Macao Park.
After a rather unfortunate incident in an elevator shaft, Macao Park disappeared with a bag full of gold, reinventing himself as a bank breaker in Macao?s casinos, thereby earning his new moniker. It is not the casino?s cash that Park is after this time. He is interested in the Tear of the Sun, a spectacular diamond that a guest is storing in the vault. That would be Tiffany, the mistress of mobbed-up fence Wei Hong.
\>");The plan is to steal the diamond and sell it back to Hong, with the help of a Hong Kong crew led by the sly Chen. (For the record, this will make them an even 10.) That might not sound like a very good plan, because it isn?t, but it?s not really what many of the conspirators have in mind. There are a lot of agendas at play in ?The Thieves? that will inevitably lead to a series of crosses and double-crosses.
Dripping with style, The Thieves will draw obvious comparisons to the Ocean?s franchise, but it is rather better than that. While there is comic relief here and there (mostly from Oh Dal-soo?s crook, Andrew), Thieves is far edgier with a very real sense of danger present throughout.
Nobody here mugs for the camera or tries to show the audience how much fun they are having. They are professionals, and not all of them are going to make it.
Thieves also has something else that the Ocean?s movies lack: Simon Yam, bringing all kinds of Hong Kong action movie credibility as the crafty old Chen. This is a great part for him, allowing him to stretch out as he develops romantic chemistry with Kim Hae-sook?s character, Chewing Gum, the mature Korean con woman he has been paired up with.
Yet, Yam does not quite out-grizzle Kim Yun-seok?s Macao Park. Rumpled in a noir way, he could kick Clooney?s butt while still hung over, much like his breakout character in The Chaser (but not quite as dark).
Kim Hye-soo as a safe-cracker in the crime-action film ?The Thieves.? (Caper Films)
Also recognizable to international audiences (from The Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, among other films), Gianna Jun makes flirtation looks dangerous as the seductive cat burglar Yenicall.
Clearly, Choi was not afraid to cut loose with third-act action sequences. There will be no place for smug looks over champagne when it is all said and done, which is what makes it so refreshing.
An amped-up but pleasingly coy heist movie, The Thieves is highly recommended for genre fans when it opens this Friday (Oct. 12) in New York at the AMC Empire.
The Thieves
Director: Choi Dong-hoon
Cast: Gianna Jun, Kim Hae-sook, Kim Hye-soo
Running Time: 135 minutes
Language: In Korean with English subtitles
Joe Bendel writes about independent film and lives in New York. To read his most recent articles, please visit http://jbspins.blogspot.com?? ?
The Epoch Times publishes in 35 countries and in 19 languages. Subscribe to our e-newsletter.
Source: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/arts-entertainment/movie-review-the-thieves-302926.html
rand paul detained nbc news asexual jim carrey san francisco chronicle kourtney kardashian pregnant kourtney kardashian pregnant
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.