3.5/5 stars
Three of the most popular members of the Cantopop boy band Mirror lend their ticket-selling powers to The Moon Thieves (also styled as The Moon Thi4v3s), a by-the-numbers heist thriller which nevertheless engages with its playful storytelling, slick visuals and some casually charismatic performances.
Following a chaotic opening scene that drops us briefly into the middle of a deadly shoot-out, the film goes back several days in time to introduce us to Vincent (Lui), a master counterfeiter who has the ability to build period-correct replicas of antique timepieces out of cheaply recycled parts.
He is coerced into joining a heist by Uncle (Keung), the unhinged son of a deceased underworld watch dealer, who is seemingly also trying to kill off his father’s long-time crew members.
The new mission involves breaking into a Tokyo watch shop, where Vincent is to authenticate a trio of valuable watches and swap them with fakes he’s made.
Joining Vincent are loyal henchman Chief (Cheung) and explosives specialist Mario (Ning), as well as the inexperienced lock-picking artist Yoh (Lo), whose family has a complicated history with Uncle’s operations.
The film’s high-profile Lunar New Year release must feel like a shot in the arm for Yuen after the awful critical reception of his ViuTV drama series We Got Game (2022), another star vehicle for Mirror members, and a plagiarism scandal involving a music video that he directed last year.
The Moon Thieves makes for surprisingly fun viewing when it follows the central quartet as they prepare for, and then pull off, the audacious heist.
The story loses some of its intrigue when it subsequently switches gears for a conventional thriller finish, but even then the ensemble remain a joy to watch – with the exception, that is, of Keung, who is woefully miscast as the film’s main villain.
Despite his best efforts, the boy-next-door pop idol struggles mightily to play against type, and never convinces for a second as the cold-blooded mob boss who threatens everyone’s life just so he can complete a sale.