K-Movie Review: The Technicians/The Con Artists 기술자들

The Technicians or The Con Artists is a 2014 movie starring Kim Woo Bin (The Heirs, Twenty), Lee Hyun Woo (Secretly, Greatly, To The Beautiful You), and Ko Chang Seok (Tabloid Truth,Good Doctor). It tells the story of safe-cracker and his team who join others to steal 150 billion won from Incheon Customs. Lee Ji Hyuk (Kim Woo Bin) is a safe-cracker who works alongside his friend Goo In, who is a planner. They seek out Jong Bae (Lee Hyun Woo), who is a genius hacker to help steal diamonds, but he has a reputation for being a traitor to whoever he works with. The team manages to steal rare diamonds, but are soon caught by the store owner who wants help stealing money from Incheon Customs before it's moved. They will have just 40 minutes to steal the money from a highly secure area that's hidden away from  outsiders. Will they succeed?

To be honest, I only started watching this movie because of Kim Woo Bin (yes, I am biased) otherwise I may have passed on this. However, I am glad that I love him so much because this movie was very good. As I watching, I initially just figured it was the average heist movie where everyone either ends up dead or in jail by the end, but the entire plot twist really threw and was a surprise - at least to me it was. Seeing how Ji Hyuk planned everything, even him being 'caught', added a nice other touch to his character because we were shown he was more than a mere thief. He had a brain and used it for more than just opening safes, he was the real planner in this group and it showed. He was driven by revenge, but each move was calculate and you can say him being seen by the police was also a planned move since he had to have known Boss Cho (Kim Yeong Cheol) would catch them, he was the target of his revenge plan. 

Even though Cho wasn't nearly as cunning as Ji Hyuk, I enjoyed his character and what he thought was a brilliant plan. He was use to running things and didn't like when someone tried to rip him off, so he took advantage of Jong Bae's reputation as a traitor and use it against Ji Hyuk. With this, it seemed as if you were only looking out for yourself and it was every man for himself, but it appeared to be the exact opposite. Ji Hyuk was looking out for everyone around him including Eun Ha (Jo Yoon Hee), who just happened to be the daughter of the man he was getting revenge for. I thought she was a useless love interest at first, but I was wrong and am glad they didn't include some random love story that contributed nothing to the main plot. The ending was open enough to come up with your own theories, but him constantly going out with her only served enough purpose for his overall plan. 

Jong Bae not actually being a traitor is what really surprised me since I spent some time cursing at him whenever he popped up on screen. I was really convinced he betrayed them and killed Goo In, but I was so glad it was all a part of an elaborate scheme to screw over Cho. Having them not tell Goo In was for the best since he's not the best at really pretending plus having too many people in on your plans isn't too good. Thinking about it, Jong Bae's acting gave him more money since Cho paid him to be a spy when in reality he was only on Ji Hyuk's side all along. 

The Technicians showed good writing, directing and acting. I've always liked Ko Chang Seok and Lee Hyun Woo and their chemistry with Kim Woo Bin was good, I wouldn't mind seeing them in another project together. 

The alternate title, The Con Artists, actually makes sense. Ji Hyuk had to fool most people around him to fulfill his revenge plan and walk away with billions without getting caught. If you're looking for a good heist movie with a good core cast then this one may be for you. 

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