This review is spoiler free!

A gritty crime saga which follows the lives of an elite unit of the LA County Sheriff’s Dept. and the state’s most successful bank robbery crew as the outlaws plan a seemingly impossible heist on the Federal Reserve Bank.

Suprisingly enough, January 2018 isn’t a dumpster fire of film releases so far, and Den Of Thieves (2018) is no exception. While it’s not amazing, it’s a pretty solid heist film.

Plot

While this film borrows most of it’s plot elements and characters from other heist films (mainly Heat), it rips them off in a surprisingly good way. There’s nothing new about the story or the characters, but it’s a fun watch with really great action scenes and a dark sense of humor.

The story moved along briskly, with the exception of a few scenes. Specifically, there was a scene with 50 Cent’s character scaring his daughter’s prom date before they leave, and while it was pretty funny, it had no purpose for being there. I suspect that it was added to try to make 50 Cent’s character out to be a hard criminal and loving father, but it really did nothing to enhance his character.

There’s a whole plot element with Gerard Butler’s character and his martial problems which is supposed to make me feel empathy for him, but he’s so much of a jerk in the film that I didn’t care at all.

Watching the robbers plan and execute their robbery was pretty solid, but nothing we haven’t seen before. Unfortunately, it doesn’t compliment the twist ending as it should, and some of the key plans don’t seem very realistic.

The twist ending was by far the worst part of the film. It was absolutely unbelievable, and some of the key elements of the twist were completely ridiculous. It’s a shame that the screenwriters decided to go with a sequel-bait ending instead of more serious one, but it was more the execution of the ending that bothered me.

Characters

I would’ve liked more character development for both the cops and robbers, but they had enough personality that I could make it through the film still believing that they could be real people. That being said, it would’ve made the shootouts and suspenseful moments more meaningful if we had a good idea of who the characters where.

Nick, played by Gerard Butler, was the most developed character by far, but he’s not likable or even sympathetic. I think the film was trying to make him the damaged hero of the story, but I just thought he was a complete jerk and deserved the bad things that happened to him. However, this is the best I’ve ever seen Gerard Butler, so that’s a plus.

Merrimen, played by Pablo Schreiber, was pretty solid as the leader of the heist crew. You could tell that he was cold and calculating, but still felt loyalty toward his crew. Schreiber’s performance was subtle, but I enjoyed watching him.

O’Shea Jackson Jr. played Donnie who was the new guy on the crew and he brought some great acting moments to the film. He played confident or terrified quite well when needed. His character was much more than a driver, but he still contributed to the plot.

The other characters, both cops and robbers, lacked any depth. They were adequate for their roles and that’s saying a lot for a January, Heat ripoff.

Action/Visuals

The action was easily the highlight of the film. The shootouts were intense and clear, and the sound design was superb. The gunshots echoed and were extremely loud, just like an actual weapon being fired, which really added to the sense of realism in the film.

The cinematography was really nice throughout the whole film. Both the dialogue and the action were filmed in a smooth clear way that made watching the film very easy. Clarity and proper framing made the gunfights easy to follow and definitely stood above most generic action films. These aspects, paired with a really great synth-based score took the whole film up a notch.

Final Thoughts

As far as action film ripoffs go, Den of Thieves is almost a fantastic heist film. It falls short with it’s characters and occasional story distractions (unnecessary scenes and a poorly thoughtout ending that tried to hard to set up a sequel), but makes up for it with intense, well filmed action scenes that were worth seeing the film in the theater.

If you go into this film keeping your expectations in check and looking for some great action, you’ll certainly be rewarded. Den of Thieves was a fun time at the theater, and considering that January has been the dumping grounds for crappy films in the past, this is a pleasant surprise.

Overall Rating: 4/5