Den Of Thieves (2018)

If you're going to emulate a modern crime thriller then Heat is one of the best that you could aim for, and that's exactly what Den Of Thieves does. The opening crime is a barrage of high-powered gunfire, and then things settle down a bit as we watch a number of professionals try to do what they're best at doing.

Pablo Schreiber plays Ray Merrimen, a professional robber about to lead a team on the biggest score of their lives. It's an audacious job, and he'll be helped by the likes of Enson Levoux (50 Cent) and Donnie Wilson (O'Shea Jackson Jr.). Donnie is the wheelman, but he's also the weak spot, having had his collar felt by 'Big Nick' O'Brien (Gerard Butler). First being shown at a crime scene where he takes a doughnut from a blood-spattered box, Nick is the kind of cop who will let his life fall apart around him while he focuses on getting his man. Ray Merrimen is determined not to go back to prison though, but he starts to feed Nick information about their upcoming score. Is he that confident, or is it all a bluff?

Written and directed by Christian Gudegast, making his debut in the big chair, Den Of Thieves often feels like a film that shouldn't work. And yet it does. The main character is quite ridiculous, as is the game being played between him and the villains, there are a number of implausibilities that build up as everything plays out in the third act, the 140-minute runtime is too long, and there should be some more familiar faces sprinkled throughout the substantial amount of supporting cast members. The main players seem to be relishing their roles though, and that goes a hell of a long way to helping make this worth your time.

Butler is a lot of fun, playing someone who is only one or two steps away from an irredeemable Bad Lieutenant (although, crucially, he always seems to be attempting to do his job properly, albeit in unorthodox ways), and he's the main draw here, but Schreiber is very watchable and intense, Jackson Jr. continues to build a good selection of acting performances, and Curtis Jackson (AKA 50 Cent) proves himself able to work well alongside the leads. Evan Jones, Brian Van Holt, Mo McRae, Dawn Olivieri, and Cooper Andrews are also worth mentioning.

Created by Gudegast and Paul T. Scheuring with no attempt to be coy about their main influences, this feels somehow both like a standard action thriller and something quite a bit more bonkers than that. There's a vein of sly humour running throughout many of the scenes, and the very end is enjoyably amusing for how much it seems to directly lift from another classic '90s movie (which I won't mention here, that would spoil the impact). I'm not sure I would choose to rewatch this, but I am sure that I had a pretty good time while it was on. And, as much as I love McAvoy in the role, it kind of makes me wish that Butler had been given the lead role in Filth, because some of the same rules apply to his character here that apply to that reprobate. Oh yes, the same rules apply.

7/10

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