King of Thieves – ABC Film Challenge – Set in England – K – King of Thieves – Movie Review
Director: James Marsh
Writer: Joe Penhall (Screenplay)
Cast
- Michael Caine (The Italian Job)
- Jim Broadbent (The Duke)
- Tom Courtenay (45 Years)
- Michael Gambon (Gosford Park)
- Ray Winstone (Sexy Beast)
Plot: A true crime movie about a crew of retired crooks who pull off a major heist in London’s jewelry district. What starts off as their last criminal hurrah, quickly turns into a brutal nightmare due to greed.
Runtime: 1 Hour 48 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: King of Thieves starts when a seasoned veteran thief Brian Reader (Caine) sees his wife pass away. He decides to bring his most trusted team Terry (Broadbent), Kenny (Courtenay), Danny (Winstone) and Carl (Whitehouse) together for another job. Basil (Cox) introduces them to the idea of the job in the Hatten Garden district.
The team put their plan together to commit one of the biggest robberies in history. They use each other’s skills and deal with their own problems until the robbery turns into a nightmare for the former friends.
Verdict on King of Thieves
King of Thieves is a crime thriller following the real robbery of the Hatton Garden Safe Deposit Company. It follows the experienced crew that comes together for the job and ends up showing how it caused a bigger rift between them.
This being based on the real robbery helps us know the bigger picture going on. However, the way the team completely fall apart only makes this confusing, as it makes zero sense why they fell out so quickly. On the heist side of things, it is everything you would have come to expect through the years. This could have been a lot more entertaining if we had followed more of the investigation behind them, instead of a montage.
The movie gets the most out of the English cast, whom all get to have a lot of fun with their roles. There may well be one or two more than required old people jokes, but it works for the basic idea of the heist team.
Final Thoughts – King of Thieves starts in style but fizzles out by the end.
