Premise
An elite unit of the LA County Sheriff’s Dept. and the state’s most successful bank robbery crew clash as the outlaws plan a seemingly impossible heist on the Federal Reserve Bank.
Overview
Release – 19 January, 2018
Runtime – 140 minutes
Genre – Action/Heist/Thriller
Review
NO Spoilers
“2400 times a year. 44 times a week. 9 times a day. Every 48 minutes. A bank is robbed here. This is the bank robbery capital of the world. Los Angeles.”
When a movie starts off like this, you know it’s going to be nothing short of action… and bad guys… and robberies! And trust me, I had a few doubts going into this one, but I was proved wrong… and how!
Den of Thieves has definitely surprised me for sure. You would think that it’s just another heist movie, which in fact it is, but the movie has more to offer.
Here’s a quick teaser –
The most robbed place in the world is about to witness something never done before… But to pull it off, Merrimen and his gang of thieves must do the impossible to break in the bank that’s never been broken into… ever. And to stop the aforementioned event from happening, Big Nick and his crew of detectives must go toe to toe with their counterparts in a game of wits, strength, and power before the whole thing burns and crashes… quite literally.
The movie starts off straight away, no opening credits and that. We are thrown into a robbery scene right off the bat, and you know then and there that stuff’s about to get real!
We are introduced one by one to the characters via names on the screen, starting off with the “bad guys”, led by Ray Merrimen (Pablo Schreiber), an ex-MARSOC Marine (United States Marine Forces Special Operations Command), and his partners in crime (literally), including Enson Levoux (50 Cent; yet another ex-MARSOC Marine), who are not only ruthless in the manner in which they execute things, but also precise and well planned in everything.
But where there’s bad guys, there’s good guys to stop them, right?
Enter the “good guys”, helmed by Nick “Big Nick” O’Brien (Gerard Butler), “the original gangsta cop in the flesh”, a detective who runs major crimes at LASD (Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department), and his fellow deputies who are like the most savage/thug detectives ever.
Merrimen and his crew are proving to be a menace, and Big Nick is ready to do anything to stop them… no matter what the cost. But he’s a mess himself. Apart from heavy drinking, and a straining relationship with his wife threatening to separate their family, Big Nick decides to take on Merrimen and his crew head-on. But no one said it was going to be easy. For what’s about to happen is nothing ordinary… even for a place like LA!
“Look to your right. You know what that is? It’s the bank for banks. LA branch of the Federal Reserve. It’s the only bank that’s never been robbed. There have been 53 break in attempts. Not one has gone past the lobby. That’s why we’re going to rob it.”
Oh boy! Strap on to your seatbelt folks… cuz it’s about to go down!
What follows is quite a lot of good action sequences, some family drama involving the characters, and ultimately a race against time to stop the robbery of robberies from happening. Along the way, certain characters are introduced, including that of Donnie Wilson (O’Shea Jackson Jr.), a part-time barman, and the new driver for Merrimen’s crew. Oh, and he can drive!
What was impressive?
- Acting was good (classic Gerard Butler style).
- Tense BGM.
- Quite a lot of terms/slang present in cop/gangster tongue.
- Some good humor present.
- Respective family arcs shown of certain characters as well.
- A very good twist at the end.
- Couple of nice LA scenes/shots present.
- A great outro song is present as well – Legendary by Welshley Arms (goes great with not only the ending, but with the whole theme of the movie really). Great choice!
What was bad?
- The movie got a little bit slow at times, which was hindering the flow in some ways.
Other info.
- Location + time stamps present at the bottom left of the screen.
- Foul language present (duh! don’t tell me you weren’t expecting it in a movie like this!).
- Certain adult content present.
Some quotes/dialogues
“You’re not the bad guys. We are.”
Big Nick to Merrimen and his crew
“People with things to hide never have much to say.”
Final thoughts
Overall, a pretty well-made movie in my opinion. The characters were very well portrayed, the story was pretty good, and the action was very good too. Talking about the heist, it was actually very well shown, and I liked it personally. The ending was like an icing on top of the cake. With a sequel planned in the near future (2024), and certain characters reprising their roles (not gonna spoil who, of course!), I’m really excited to see where this goes!
Rating: – 9/10 (Worth watching!)
