One of the down sides of a film like Michael Mann’s HEAT is that it makes for an easy film to duplicate. Plenty of films have taken the cop vs crook dynamic Mann crafted and made brilliant films out of it; The Dark Knight was directly inspired by it, among others. The problem is that so many other bad films try to take something similar using the same formula Mann used. One of those is Den of Thieves.
Nick (Gerard Butler) is a hard living, hard drinking, cliché of a cop who lives for his job. Ray (Pablo Schreiber) is ex-military and a thief, using his expertise for high profile jobs. When Nick’s crosshairs land him on Ray’s crew, and Donnie (O’Shea Jackson Jr) winds up in-between them, a robbery of the federal reserve brings both parties together in a violent conclusion.
If you’ve watched Takers and the like you’ve seen Den of Thieves already. Throw in a magical twist ending that’s easy to spot if you’re paying attention and there isn’t much about Den of Thieves that’s new or original. It’s a perfectly acceptable Netflix viewing but don’t pay full freight for this film.
Nothing of note.
Universal presents Den of Thieves. Written and directed by Christian Gudegast. Starring Gerard Butler, O’Shea Jackson Jr, Pablo Schreiber, Curtis “50 cent” Jackson. Run Time: 149 minutes. Rated R. Released on 4.24.18
