From the makers of LONDON HAS FALLEN. Enough said.
The idea that audiences will always be pulled into the heist caper film lies in the many prime examples of the genre itself. The Killing, Heist, Femme Fatale, Inside Man are all classic examples which best exemplify what makes a heist films a thrilling and compelling experience. Each one superbly encapsulates the heist film through intricate plotting, dynamic characters and ultimately, the enticing quality found in promise of wealth and freedom of that huge heap of cash at the center of the story. Heist films strike a nerve in all of us on some level, calling on our own wishes and desires. Despite its breathtakingly relentless efforts, Den of Thieves, the genre’s most recent entry, chooses to disregard any of that and instead pile on a scattered assortment of cliches before opting to blatantly steal from one of the greatest heist films of all.
Den of Thieves focuses on a gang of ex-military men turned bank robbers (Pablo Schreiber, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Evan Jones) who set their sights on robbing the federal reserve in Los Angeles. Hot on their pursuit are a team from the L.A. county sheriff’s department led by the volatile Nick O’Brien (Gerard Butler) whose complicated life outside the force makes him especially determined to take down the group at any cost.
One thing that the makers of Den of Thieves have done to hamper their film is give it too much thought in terms of the script. The film boasts one of the messiest structures seen in quite some time. So much of the plot goes into different directions, that it’s no wonder the movie clocks in at a bloated two hours and twenty minutes. The movie can’t decide if it wants to follow Jackson being caught between both sides, Butler’s angry, emotionally conflicted cop, or the ongoing game of chicken his and Schreiber’s character have going on. The result is a movie that packs in so much, that it doesn’t know what to do with itself. In the midst of all of this is an inexcusable assortment of throwaway scenes which not only add nothing to further the plot, but go on far longer than they’re worth. In the interest of not making Den of Thieves even longer than it already is, its helmers make the audience must endure dueling sequences, such as the cops going over the background of each of the criminals which is played simultaneously with the bad guys outlining their master plan in one of the film’s most exhausting stretches.
At the same time, while the film is overloaded in terms of the mechanics, it seems that not enough thought was given to the heart of Den of Thieves. There is virtually nothing novel or original on offer here. Sure, this can be excused as more of a loving tribute to the great heist films of the past that its own entity, but with an ending that can almost be called movie plagirism, Den of Thieves can’t even call itself an homage. The film is loaded with trite dialogue and half-baked aspects which are eventually abandoned (Nick’s relationship with an FBI clone of Donald Trump Jr, for example.) Yet the biggest misstep of all remains the film’s characters. Virtually every person on the screen is a reprehensible jerk with little-to-no redeeming features to them. There’s nothing wrong with this. I have no problems watching jerk on screen so long as they’re interesting jerks. Sadly though, every person here is as cliche as the words they speak.
Butler gives the role of Nick everything he’s got to the point where you wish that the character and the film genuinely deserved him. The same can’t be said for the rest of the cast, all of whom are saddled with such nothing roles, that their participation in Den of Thieves comes across as downright baffling. This is especially true of 50 Cent, whose small handful of lines do nothing except remind the audience that he’s actually in the film. Only Jackson manages to turn in anything resembling close to a worthwhile performance after being blessed with the nearest thing to a character the film has to offer. Between this and his turn in last year’s Ingrid Goes West, Jackson is becoming an engaging screen presence with a career worth keeping an eye on.
Apart from Jackson’s work, the lone positive to take away from Den of Thieves is its view of Los Angeles as a grimy, gritty landscape free of the sun-drenched escapism usually associated with the iconic city. In a similar way, the film’s portrayal of its setting is reminiscent of Good Time’s view of New York City as a place where most everyone is living in an inescapable hell. However since the film was actually shot in Atlanta, no doubt for budgetary reasons, this is a purely accidental plus. With too many influences and a lack of inspiration, Den of Thieves is B-movie fodder through and through. But hey, it’s January.
