“A solid homage to Heat”

Dir: Christian Gudegast
Prod: Gerard Butler, Alan Siegel, Mark Canton, Tucker Tooley
Writ: Christian Gudegast, Paul Scheuring
Cast: Gerard Butler, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Pablo Scheriber

Den of Thieves is a heist movie starring Gerard Butler and O’Shea Jackson Jr. It follows Nick O’Brien, a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department officer who must take down a group of criminals led by Ray Merriman, whom he believes hijacked an armored truck and killed several cops in a shootout. Nick and his team must do whatever it takes to prevent the heist at the Federal Reserve, one of the most secure banks in the world, heavily guarded by security.

If this plot sounds familiar, it’s because it’s similar to Heat (1995), a film by Michael Mann starring Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, and Val Kilmer. Den of Thieves is almost a beat-for-beat rip-off of Heat, but it’s done very well. It’s mind-blowing to see this movie treated with care, unlike films such as Transmorphers or Atlantic Rim, which seem to prioritize money over quality. This movie is different. Just like Michael Mann’s direction, Den of Thieves benefits from Christian Gudegast’s competent direction. Gudegast, who worked as a writer on London Has Fallen (which also starred Gerard Butler), makes an impressive directorial debut here.

There are beautiful shots of the ocean and the night-lit LA photography, and the gunfire sounds more realistic compared to many other Hollywood movies it’s echoey and loud, much like in Heat, but with a slightly different approach. The score, composed by Cliff Martinez (who worked on Contagion and The Foreigner), is a synth-driven soundtrack that works surprisingly well for the film, especially given that Martinez isn’t as famous for scoring homage films like this.

The movie clocks in at around 140 minutes, and I have to admit that some of the subplots, like Gerard Butler’s character Nick dealing with his wife, are tough to sit through. While the film tries to approach character development similarly to Heat, it falls short. In Heat, Al Pacino’s portrayal of a detective is believable, but Gerard Butler’s macho character feels over the top and hard to buy into. As for the ending, it’s not necessarily bad, but the reveal of the mastermind behind the heist feels like it’s borrowed from The Usual Suspects. After watching it, you might think, “Eh, not sure I believe that person is the mastermind.”

Despite these issues, the shootout sequences are great, and the acting is strong. I particularly enjoyed Gerard Butler’s performance, as well as Pablo Schreiber’s portrayal of the criminal, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, and O’Shea Jackson Jr. The overall acting and action sequences are competently made. It’s just that you can’t help thinking, “I’ve seen movie like this before.”

Overall, if you were disappointed with Michael Mann’s last two movie Blackhat or Ferrari, you might enjoy Den of Thieves, possibly even more than those two. It’s one of the most underrated heist movies out there, and with a sequel releasing in January, I’d say give it a try.

My Rating: B-