Den of Thieves is a surprisingly decent cops and robbers, cat and mouse, heist movie with a halfway decent twist near the end. I went to the theater not expecting much, and enjoyed the film more than I thought I would.
Den of Thieves tells the story of a highly skilled gang of bank robbers who are planning to pull their big heist. A group of former military, they are disciplined, smart, and well trained, led by a former con named Merrimen. In contrast, the LA Sherrif's Dept major case squad is a bunch of renegade gangster cops, led by Big Nick Flanagan (Gerard Butler). When Flanagan picks up the low level driver for Merrimen's group, the two gangs begin an escalating game of cat and mouse, each trying to figure out how to outmaneuver the other on the way to their last showdown.
Den of Thieves moves a bit fast at the beginning, in order to set up the rivalry between the gangs and their leaders. Otherwise, the plot moves well, and sets up as an entertaining movie with elements of an Ocean's Eleven style heist plot, Heat style tension between gang leaders, and exciting action. The viewer isn't sure who to root for, and then a twist comes near the end that throws everything into a new light. The twist wasn't entirely Usual Suspects type of unpredictable, but it was decent and gave an extra layer to a decent action movie.
Theres a lot of violence, foul language, and some nudity in the movie. The acting is pretty decent, especially from the leads (Butler and Pablo Schreiber). The plot is entertaining and the movie is paced well.
Overall, two thumbs up. Good weekend fun.
Slowguy
(insert pithy phrase here...)
Den of Thieves tells the story of a highly skilled gang of bank robbers who are planning to pull their big heist. A group of former military, they are disciplined, smart, and well trained, led by a former con named Merrimen. In contrast, the LA Sherrif's Dept major case squad is a bunch of renegade gangster cops, led by Big Nick Flanagan (Gerard Butler). When Flanagan picks up the low level driver for Merrimen's group, the two gangs begin an escalating game of cat and mouse, each trying to figure out how to outmaneuver the other on the way to their last showdown.
Den of Thieves moves a bit fast at the beginning, in order to set up the rivalry between the gangs and their leaders. Otherwise, the plot moves well, and sets up as an entertaining movie with elements of an Ocean's Eleven style heist plot, Heat style tension between gang leaders, and exciting action. The viewer isn't sure who to root for, and then a twist comes near the end that throws everything into a new light. The twist wasn't entirely Usual Suspects type of unpredictable, but it was decent and gave an extra layer to a decent action movie.
Theres a lot of violence, foul language, and some nudity in the movie. The acting is pretty decent, especially from the leads (Butler and Pablo Schreiber). The plot is entertaining and the movie is paced well.
Overall, two thumbs up. Good weekend fun.
Slowguy
(insert pithy phrase here...)