As far as Michael Mann wannabes go, Den of Thieves is arguably one of the best of the bunch, with some genuinely intense and exciting sequences, confident and assured direction from first-timer Christian Gudegast, and some rock-solid performances. I’ve always enjoyed Gerard Butler as an actor and this may be one of the best in his filmography. He pulls it all extremely well here. Den of Thieves is a sturdy action thriller that builds to an hour-long heist sequence and is bookended by face-melting shootouts in some electric action sequences, cool explosive moments, suspenseful thrills, and a lot of satire humor that most of the time managed to get me. It is a suffocating deconstruction of toxic masculinity and the selfishness of the “alpha male” that puts everyone else's lives in the back and at risk just to serve their own pleasure and thrills. It's the perfect sort of macho bullshit souped up with a coked-out, deliriously fun energy that's brilliantly embodied by how well Christian Gudegast deploys Gerard Butler in god mode here. Excited to watch Pantera tomorrow!

As far as Michael Mann wannabes go, Den of Thieves is arguably one of the best of the bunch, with some genuinely intense and exciting sequences, confident and assured direction from first-timer Christian Gudegast, and some rock-solid performances. I’ve always enjoyed Gerard Butler as an actor and this may be one of the best in his filmography. He pulls it all extremely well here. Den of Thieves is a sturdy action thriller that builds to an hour-long heist sequence and is bookended by face-melting shootouts in some electric action sequences, cool explosive moments, suspenseful thrills, and a lot of satire humor that most of the time managed to get me. It is a suffocating deconstruction of toxic masculinity and the selfishness of the “alpha male” that puts everyone else's lives in the back and at risk just to serve their own pleasure and thrills. It's the perfect sort of macho bullshit souped up with a coked-out, deliriously fun energy that's brilliantly embodied by how well Christian Gudegast deploys Gerard Butler in god mode here. Excited to watch Pantera tomorrow!

Once the actual robbery/heist starts this hits an unbelievably entertaining flow state, but unfortunately the first hour is filled with some of the most unnecessary bullshit. If they cut that first hour down to 30 minutes it would’ve significantly improved my viewing experience. Still though once the heist hits I was all in. Fun movie.

Once the actual robbery/heist starts this hits an unbelievably entertaining flow state, but unfortunately the first hour is filled with some of the most unnecessary bullshit. If they cut that first hour down to 30 minutes it would’ve significantly improved my viewing experience. Still though once the heist hits I was all in. Fun movie.

A really entertaining heist movie, you almost root for the bad guys because they actually give them good screen time and they have good personalities. The acting is good and the plot is solid with a awesome action packed ride.

A really entertaining heist movie, you almost root for the bad guys because they actually give them good screen time and they have good personalities. The acting is good and the plot is solid with a awesome action packed ride.

As dude of a movie as you can get. Good twist at the end.

As dude of a movie as you can get. Good twist at the end.

The dark twin of Heat! From shooting the bank truck employees, to high-level cops chasing top-tier criminals, to the closing sequences mirroring the Pacino/De Niro hand-holding stuff, we really get the best moments recreated in a modern setting, with actors that give this role their absolute all! The good guy/bad guy crews, led by Gerard Butler's Big Nick and Pablo Schreiber's Merriman, are so fun to follow because all of the men show hints of their real lives through their dialogue, building in realistic stakes to what is going down. Will their families be safe? Will they be able to avoid suspicion if they are able to pull this job off? Are they too closely knit to be seen as anything other than collaborators in whatever is going on? I love having these stupid questions while I watch, because each answer that we're shown tricks me more and more into believing what I am seeing.

At a certain point, I had to accept that the echoes of Heat and The Town would be so interwoven into this plot that I would need to get on board or find something else to watch. Thank god I could put my feelings about this on the shelf and focus my attention on the innovations to the story that this team brought to the table.

I love the fake-out bank robbery, where they use the hold-up as a distraction for their real plan of using the sewers and moving on to the Federal Reserve. Having seen the time-stamp where that bank stuff starts, I knew that there had to be an alternative plan going on in the background, and this plot pays off all of its setups masterfully. Having been walked through the heist by the criminal crew earlier in the story lets you know that there is a sequence of events that needs to go down correctly for this to work out. Each of the characters feels instrumental to the success of the plan, so the tension rises each time that we see someone run into a setback or delay.

Butler is magnetic when he is on screen, whether it is because we think he's about to commit an act of domestic violence, break the rules of a crime scene in front of the FBI, or because we've been shown AND told that this guy will do whatever it takes to bring bad guys down. His interactions with Schreiber at the shooting range (electric), Benihana with the families, and the final chase/conversation with Merriman are unforgettable, and I worry that this has awoken a serious crime/heist movie itch in me that only rewatching all of my favorites can cure (just as soon as I fire up the sequel to this movie!).

O'Shea Jackson Jr. steals the show when he appears on screen, and I'm not sure why. He has an artificial cheesiness to his performance style that usually rubs me the wrong way, but it works perfectly within the context of this movie, and makes so much sense after you see the ending! I had to retroactively give him way more credit for all of the nuances in his line readings than I initially had, and I am happy to say that the twist fully worked on me! Who is to say if this works as much on rewatch, or if I had the benefit of a blind viewing, but I will absolutely be telling my friends to check this out without any kind of spoilers mentioned. Hopefully, most audiences can see this without having the plot spoiled for them!

50 Cent! He really meant it when he said get rich or die trying... This one rhymes with Dr. Dre's inclusion in Training Day, and 50 honestly blows Dre out of the water in terms of believability! The naturalism is spot on, and you can tell that he turned a lot of his real-life alpha energy down to like a 2 for this role. He still reads as scary as shit, but there's a gentleness and compassion to this character's surface that I don't think we get to see from 50 day to day.

The inter-agency beef between the cops and FBI was fun, and I liked the moment of solidarity at the end as evidence that oh yeah these guys were actually the good guys even if I like following the bad guys doing crimes more for the last 2 and half hours lol

Final thing, the sound design in the massive shootouts was great, and didn't fall short despite the impossible to avoid comparisons to Heat or The Dark Knight! The soundtrack was subtle and avoided any gimmicks of repeating themes from the scores of any of its influences, which I appreciated. The influences are apparent thematically, but Christian Gudegast has enough restraint not to style the visuals or score too directly off of the work of this genre's forefathers. I didn't even mind all of the plot mirroring from Heat, because if you're going to steal, I would rather it be from the best, and then see how well the new product measures up against the original. Hats off to this one, and absolutely recommend.

The dark twin of Heat! From shooting the bank truck employees, to high-level cops chasing top-tier criminals, to the closing sequences mirroring the Pacino/De Niro hand-holding stuff, we really get the best moments recreated in a modern setting, with actors that give this role their absolute all! The good guy/bad guy crews, led by Gerard Butler's Big Nick and Pablo Schreiber's Merriman, are so fun to follow because all of the men show hints of their real lives through their dialogue, building in realistic stakes to what is going down. Will their families be safe? Will they be able to avoid suspicion if they are able to pull this job off? Are they too closely knit to be seen as anything other than collaborators in whatever is going on? I love having these stupid questions while I watch, because each answer that we're shown tricks me more and more into believing what I am seeing.

At a certain point, I had to accept that the echoes of Heat and The Town would be so interwoven into this plot that I would need to get on board or find something else to watch. Thank god I could put my feelings about this on the shelf and focus my attention on the innovations to the story that this team brought to the table.

I love the fake-out bank robbery, where they use the hold-up as a distraction for their real plan of using the sewers and moving on to the Federal Reserve. Having seen the time-stamp where that bank stuff starts, I knew that there had to be an alternative plan going on in the background, and this plot pays off all of its setups masterfully. Having been walked through the heist by the criminal crew earlier in the story lets you know that there is a sequence of events that needs to go down correctly for this to work out. Each of the characters feels instrumental to the success of the plan, so the tension rises each time that we see someone run into a setback or delay.

Butler is magnetic when he is on screen, whether it is because we think he's about to commit an act of domestic violence, break the rules of a crime scene in front of the FBI, or because we've been shown AND told that this guy will do whatever it takes to bring bad guys down. His interactions with Schreiber at the shooting range (electric), Benihana with the families, and the final chase/conversation with Merriman are unforgettable, and I worry that this has awoken a serious crime/heist movie itch in me that only rewatching all of my favorites can cure (just as soon as I fire up the sequel to this movie!).

O'Shea Jackson Jr. steals the show when he appears on screen, and I'm not sure why. He has an artificial cheesiness to his performance style that usually rubs me the wrong way, but it works perfectly within the context of this movie, and makes so much sense after you see the ending! I had to retroactively give him way more credit for all of the nuances in his line readings than I initially had, and I am happy to say that the twist fully worked on me! Who is to say if this works as much on rewatch, or if I had the benefit of a blind viewing, but I will absolutely be telling my friends to check this out without any kind of spoilers mentioned. Hopefully, most audiences can see this without having the plot spoiled for them!

50 Cent! He really meant it when he said get rich or die trying... This one rhymes with Dr. Dre's inclusion in Training Day, and 50 honestly blows Dre out of the water in terms of believability! The naturalism is spot on, and you can tell that he turned a lot of his real-life alpha energy down to like a 2 for this role. He still reads as scary as shit, but there's a gentleness and compassion to this character's surface that I don't think we get to see from 50 day to day.

The inter-agency beef between the cops and FBI was fun, and I liked the moment of solidarity at the end as evidence that oh yeah these guys were actually the good guys even if I like following the bad guys doing crimes more for the last 2 and half hours lol

Final thing, the sound design in the massive shootouts was great, and didn't fall short despite the impossible to avoid comparisons to Heat or The Dark Knight! The soundtrack was subtle and avoided any gimmicks of repeating themes from the scores of any of its influences, which I appreciated. The influences are apparent thematically, but Christian Gudegast has enough restraint not to style the visuals or score too directly off of the work of this genre's forefathers. I didn't even mind all of the plot mirroring from Heat, because if you're going to steal, I would rather it be from the best, and then see how well the new product measures up against the original. Hats off to this one, and absolutely recommend.