Directed by:
Christian GudegastCinematography:
Terry StaceyComposer:
Cliff MartinezCast:
Gerard Butler, Pablo Schreiber, O'Shea Jackson Jr., 50 Cent, Meadow Williams, Maurice Compte, Brian Van Holt, Evan Jones, Mo McRae, Kaiwi Lyman, Dawn Olivieri (more)VOD (3)
Plots(1)
Set in contemporary Los Angeles, a city with the highest rate of bank robberies in the world, Den of Thieves follows the intersecting and lives of rogue police officers and the state's most successful bank robbery crew as the outlaws plan a seemingly impossible heist on the largest bank in downtown LA. But Den of Thieves is reflective of the world we live in - people are complex, the lines between good and bad are not as clearly defined as we’d like to think, and often, the perceptions of wrong and right are not simply black and white. (Roadshow Entertainment)
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Reviews (11)
Gudegast has a real weakness for the duo of crime classics from the year 95. And he doesn't even try to hide it, in other words, he does his best to imitate them, from stylization to the course to individual twists. Yes, it is a “wannabe" tribute to the two classic movies made by a routine guy with no inventiveness more than anything else, but even such a second-rate non-original genre move can make you happy. And the movie is really good at it, because it hit exactly the pure essence of uncompromising macho rough crime movies. It just slightly slavishly copied scenes from the original movies, so you always know “what´s going on and what to expect". The movie should have been a little bit shorter and should have skipped Nick's family vicissitudes (they're not bad, but annoyingly clichéd and useless because nothing comes out of them), because they just obstruct an otherwise entirely nice and straightforward spectacle. It is exactly that type of manly movies, for which we used to go to video rentals in the 1990s. Moreover, this one is so good that it could almost keep up with the competition at the time.
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An utterly unoriginal film with very decent action and an insufferably macho Gerard Butler, whose "Big Nick" O'Brian, when not delivering macho one-liners or gesticulating in a macho way, makes chewing gum out of excess testosterone. I can get over the fact that the plot wasn't exactly original, my problem was more with the fact that the filmmakers didn't let me relate to the characters at all. So, I didn't care much about their fate and thus couldn't feel any suspense. And action films without suspense just don’t do it for me.
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Though the visible parallels with Heat cannot be denied, Den of Thieves stands firmly on its own two feet. Whereas Michael Mann, director of the former film, came up with a stylishly refined portrait of two antagonists with professional respect for each other and deals with the ethics of the world of crime and justice, Christian Gudegast offers viewers a precision heist flick with a clever screenplay that deliberately winds up the viewer’s attention. --- SPOILERS FOLLOW --- The story has three central characters, which are presented to us over the course of the film, but only so that we can reassess everything ourselves at the end. However, he gives us ambiguous indications during the film that perhaps everything will not be what it seems. The filmmakers surprisingly use elements of overwrought machismo, where they have sullen mastodons march past the viewers, without in any way depicting them as likable characters. Though, in accordance with genre conventions, we are automatically conditioned to simultaneously sympathise with the cop and appreciate the ingenuity and coolness of his antagonist, over time the film reveals both of them to be unlikable, obstinate assholes. Whoever at first appeared to be a great guy turns out to be a fanatical workaholic, the experienced and shrewd nice guy is shown to be a tragic pawn and revealing the brain of the whole operation shows that whoever can merely play stereotypical masculine roles will always have the upper hand over those who dully live them.
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We finally know how Heat could have looked like if Michael Mann hadn't directed it. What's missing here is the precision of direction, the plot sweep, the feel of concrete, the neon of LA and above all the depth and fatality of the characters. Macho Butler is over the top and Schreiber as a villain, though contrived, needed a more resonant persona. The most interesting character is 50 Cent, thanks to his family background. The original is the materialised reality of everyday life, but this copy is "just a film" that also tends to repeat the classics in places. For example, in the end, and then in the opening thrilling ambush of the armoured car.
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Yet another take at cops and robbers, or else Heat with a very likeable array of actors. Butler as the son of a bitch cop at last in his first great role for a long time. Schreiber makes a good opposite number. Top-notch action with a fantastic final shootout in the traffic jam. Great one-liners. Wow.
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