Hyun Bin is back and looking better than ever in a swindler’s suit.  But is this Korean movie worth the watch?  Or should you revisit a Hyun Bin drama of yesteryear and dream of a  different strong comeback project?  Come find out as Kmuse & Clkytta discuss the movie The Swindlers.

Trailer:

SYNOPSIS:

**High stakes and fast talk are the game in this crime caper that brings together an all-star cast as unlikely allies from different sides of the law. Each member of the team has their own motives, but they’ll have to work together to achieve their common goal-trapping the world’s most legendary con man.

THE PLOT:

Kmuse: I will be honest.  The number one reason I wanted to watch this drama was for Hyun Bin.  I am still waiting for that big hit that will make me love him like I used to pre-military.  Sadly, I think I will have to continue waiting.  The synopsis is very similar to the drama Master which I watched earlier in the year.  It also dealt with a Ponzi scheme and conning the bad guy to retrieve money and get justice.  Personally, I think Master did it much better.  The Swindlers attempts to be smarter than it actually is.  I had guessed the plot twists around a 1/3rd way through the movie which resulted in me just twiddling my thumbs as my hypothesis was proved correct.

Clkytta: Y’all know that Hyun Bin is my bias, right? I love everything about him.  That said, I wasn’t impressed with this movie.  It had a stellar cast and a great premise, but it was just lackluster. It took me longer than Kmuse to figure out what the plot twist was, probably because Hyun Bin kept flipping his hair out of his eyes and showing his dimples so I didn’t focus on the actual story too much.

CINEMATOGRAPHY:

Kmuse:  It was pretty standard.  If nothing else Hyun Bin looked very attractive in a variety of well-tailored suits.

Clkytta: I have to agree with Kmuse on Hyun Bin in the suits. Back to the actual cinematography,  I was impressed with all the tracking scenes. They did a good job of cutting in and out of shots between characters.

CHARACTER OBSERVATIONS:

Kmuse:  To me it felt like the director/writer wanted to create memorable characters like in The Thieves or Master.  What we got was watered down versions that are pretty forgettable.  A sad situation since there is a wide variety of very talented actors participating.

Clkytta: So many good actors, so few good scenes, and very few good lines.  Honestly, I can’t remember a single character’s name.  Even Hyun Bin’s lines felt flat to me.  I don’t know if it was the script, or the director, or what, but I feel like something was missing. Just when we would get to the meat of a scene, it would fizzle.  I really feel like NaNa was underused.  It’s like they tried to tone her character down and it made her very forgettable.

OVERALL REACTION:

Kmuse:  It was ok.  If you want to stare at Hyun Bin for a couple hours than this is a good movie for you.  If you want to be wowed by a tight plot than I would start looking elsewhere.  I give it a 6/10 stars.

Clkytta: I’d give it 7/10 simply because of Hyun Bin and the plot twist that I figured out 2/3 of the way through.  It’s not one I’ll watch again, but it was decent.

Til our next movie adventure,

Fangirls Kmuse & Clkytta,

Dramas With a Side of Kimchi

**IMDb