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.

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 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.

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.