Den of Thieves

Den of Thieves isn't a masterpiece by any means, but it's fun, exciting and hard-boiled, and the actors are doing solid work.

It’s derivative and drowning in stagnant machismo, but stark enough to work.

The film is generous with action and twists, even if some don’t track. For January, a month Hollywood reserves for dogs, this is an admirably weird movie.

Den of Thieves displays a reverence for the taut and moody tension-building tactics of Michael Mann's Heat, but without a single compelling character or backstory to speak of, it's unable to bring even a modicum of emotional resonance to action.

Save for a few clever twists and winning performances from O’Shea Jackson Jr. and 50 Cent (née Curtis Jackson), Den of Thieves is the kind of bloated crime thriller that could have been made in any decade — which is not to call it timeless so much as way past its time.

Between the candy of the Federal Reserve robbery itself — which features a marvelous running bit about the process of delivering Chinese food in a government-surveilled building — and the merry nonsense of Butler chugging Pepto-Bismol during a strategy session, Den of Thieves earns a nice spot in the watch-forty-minutes-on-a-rainy-day canon.

Clocking in at two hours and 20 minutes, it seems intended to have been a crime epic in the vein of Michael Mann’s “Heat,” about two men of talent and spirit who happen to be on opposite sides of the law. And it’s sort of like that, if you can imagine a Michael Mann picture that has been set on fire and dropped from an airplane.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

Solid movie that goes borderline ridiculous at parts. It’s like the movie Heat for a younger crowd, just not as deep or good.

For a heist movie I would've liked a more in depth robbery scheme and plot. Just seems like most of the movie is Gerard Butler's marital issues and the bad guys figuring out whether or not one of their comrades is a snitch or not, which is not only obvious but we already know that he is from the beginning of the movie. The action scenes at the beginning and then end are pretty darn cool but they don't make up enough to help the movie. Gerard Butler was great I thought, he was the perfect guy for the role he was put in. The other positive and what saved the movie for me was the twist ending that I didn't see coming and sets up really nicely for a sequel. Overall, the story is bland, the heist isn't all that great and deep, Butler was really good, and the ending really helped the movie. Don't I'd recommend, didn't find it to be all that fun and good enough. I AM looking forward to the sequel though as it has the potential to be way better just as long as they up the overall story with a better heist and such.

The overall premise is cool, I like ambition in my bank robbers. However, when King Leonidas, er Lt Flanagan, catches whiff that's when plausibility goes out the window. Things get stupid then, and the director - Christian Gudegast, "London Has Fallen", another tepid Gerard Butler vehicle - tries to cover that up with a shootout that's the very definition of ridiculous. Seriously, how do you have a high-impact rifle shootout involving the public in LA and there aren't 200 police responding in minutes?! So Hollywood stupid. And the little twist thing they do at the end is so anti-climatic, it just adds to the disappointment of what this could've and should've been in more capable hands.

interesting plot, completely ruined by Gerard Butler, severe case of over-acting and trying way too hard. Ultimately turn it off after 45mins as this pulled me out of the story, ..... --To Gerard... chill out with your acting and think about the audience, k bud? do better in the next one.