Den Of Thieves

Money can make you do anything. And the perfect example of this is just taking a look at some of the biggest robbery criminals of history. One example is of course John Goodard who was mugged at a knifepoint, on a quiet street, carrying 292 million British pounds in bearer bonds.  This happened in 1990, London. This is actually seen as the 2nd largest robbery in history, and criminal Keith Cheeseman was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison, being one of the men behind this robbery. And as long as we have ciminals out there, who crave a luxury life style, you will always have problems with big robberies. In Hollywood, we have had plenty of films that take on the classic concept of robbery. We could go back a long way in time, but let us mention one of my personal favourites. Sidney Lumet´s classic 1975 film Dog Day Afternoon with legendary actor Al Pacino, is one of those robbery films you can watch over and over again. This is a very well made film, with fantastic acting and really powerful scenes included. This is in my opinion the best film that director Sidney Lumet made during his career. If we move forward and look at some other options, we have a film that not many people talk about these days, a film called Dead Presidents. Released in 1995 by directors Hughes Brothers, this is a great crime thriller with a great cast included. One of the best parts of this film, is actually that the characters are really effective in this film. I would not call Dead Presidents a classic, but in the category of robbery films, this is one of those titles you should see. Since the robbery theme have been used in so many different films, it is not easy making a good one, unless you have the right cast, and a great story included. Something that director ( and actor ) Ben Affleck proved with his film The Town, one of my personal favourite Affleck films. Earlier this spring, i was supposed to see the new film Den Of Thieves in cinema. Unfortunately, that did not happen, so i waited until the film landed on Digitial HD instead. A robbery film with a great cast, that gave me a positive feeling from the trailer, was all i needed to check this film out. Do we finally have an action film that deliver more than we hoped for, or is Den Of Thieves meant to be forgotten forever ?

In Los Angeles, a team of robbers led by Ray Merrimen ( Pablo Schreiber ) make a violent armed attack and hijack an armored truck. Police arrive at the scene, as the whole situation becomes a shootout. Ray and his team manage to escape, even if killing one guard was not supposed to happen. Detective Nick " Big Nick " O´Brien ( Gerard Butler ) arrives at the crime scene. He have been monitoring Merrimen and his crew for a while. Merrimen and his crew are planning to rob 30 Million Dollars from the Federal Reserve, and they are fully planning every step on the way. Detective Nick is not only having problems with this case, he is also trying to handle his personal issues, as his wife Debbie O´Brien ( Dawn Olivieri ) files for divorce and take their children with her. The only thing that keep Nick going at this point, is solving the case with Merrimen. But time is running out, and unless Nick find a way to stop Merrimen´s plans, they could cause a complete disaster.

Watching Den Of Thieves is like watching a lot of other robbery films from the past. You pretty much know what will happen, and you recognize the style of the film. But the positive side of this film, is that i actually think it works. As a standard action film, you get what you want from Den Of Thieves. You get characters who fits with this genre, and you also get some action scenes that delivers. If you expect to have any big surprises, you will probably not see this film. However, if you do like to watch a simple, but effective action film, i think you might want to check this film out. The biggest surprise to me personally, is to see actor Gerard Butler do one of his better performances in recent years. Really ? Yes, if you think about the films he have released over the recent years, he have not really made an impact like he did with his 2009 film Law Abiding Citizen. His character Big Nick, is a miserable LA Sheriff who clearly have a lot of things to deal with, especially in his personal life. I also enjoy actor Maurice Compte´s character Benny, a rough man who knows how to get the job done. I usually don´t like Curtis " 50 Cent " Jackson as an actor, but in this film as the criminal Levi Enson, he works pretty good. The plot of the film is so simple, you won´t have a problem following what´s going on. This is a very simple film, but in a good way. The length of this film is one of the details i feel could have been fixed. 2 hours and 20 minutes is a very long time, and this film could have easily been 2 hours. A part from this, i see no bigger reason to complain. Director Christian Gudegast was one of the writers on the film London Has Fallen. Den Of Thieves is his directorial debut as a film maker, and even if this film does not make a big impact, it works as an action film. I can sense that he might be a fan of the 1995 classic film Heat with Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, and i can see some resemblances. If you want to have a beer and pizza night with friends, why not rent Den Of Thieves on Blu Ray, and just enjoy a classic action concept. There is a sequel coming i heard, and that is actually something i look forward too ( if they make it good of course ).

Rating: DDD