Nick O’Brien (Butler) is the hard-drinking leader of the Regulators, an elite unit of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Ray Merrimen (Schreiber) is the recently paroled leader of the Outlaws, a gang of ex-military men who use their expertise and tactical skills to evade the law. O’Brien, Merrimen and their crews soon find themselves on a direct collision course as the criminals hatch an elaborate plan for a seemingly impossible heist – the city’s Federal Reserve Bank.
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I didn’t hear much about Den of Thieves when it was released, and figured it was just another generic heist flick. I knew it starred Gerard Butler, but he starred in the badly received Geostorm too (meaning he’s missed before), so I decided to give it a pass. Then, when I heard a sequel was in the works, I figured it must have been better than what I had assumed,. So, when I stumbled across the film on one of the streaming services, I decided to give it a shot. Would it be better than I originally expected, or is this just another generic heist flick getting a sequel solely due to Butler’s name recognition?
There are a few familiar faces in Den of Thieves. Gerard Butler, of course, who turns in a solid if pretty lackadaisical performance as a cop skating along the edge. O’Shea Jackson Jr. is good as the snitch of the bunch – a big change from his Straight Outta Compton role. Pablo Schrieber, who has just garnered a lot of attention by portraying Master Chief in Halo (TV), is good as the ex-solder turned to a life of crime, supported by his fellow ex-soldiers 50 Cent (Get Rich or Die Tryin’) and Evan Jones (8 Mile). Then there’s the quiet Samoan Cooper Andrews (Shazam!) and Jordan Bridges (Rizzoli & Isles (TV)) also adding their talents to the film – albeit in smaller roles.
That decent cast is what helps keep Den of Thieves a bit above the typical heist flick. Unfortunately, the film borrows heavily from other heist flicks, and doesn’t really contribute that much to the genre. Most of the twists and turns could be seen from a mile away with a lesser cast, but this one keeps the film running smoothly, and the viewer might find themselves getting caught s bit off guard once in a while. Sure, even the twists and turns have been done before (and better), but it’s still nice the twists aren’t totally obvious from the start.
While its plot is rather by-the-numbers in terms of heist flicks, the solid cast make the film still worth checking out. Viewers will probably point to other heist flicks that have done it better (the shootout pales in comparison to the one in Heat, for example), it’s nice to see that the cast seems to be doing their best to make Den of Thieves entertaining anyway. A decent flick worth a rental, but it really doesn’t contribute anything new to the genre.
Den of Thieves 2: Pantera
