“Den of Thieves” An Energetic, Action-Packed Heist Flick

Initially for this review, I was going to take a look at both the 2018 movie “Den of Thieves” and its recently released sequel “Den of Thieves 2: Pantera” (which I didn’t get a chance to see when it was in theaters). Since I didn’t have enough time to check out the sequel, I will be talking about the 2018 movie and save the sequel for sometime in June.

In the 2018 action flick “Den of Thieves,” Nick O’Brien is the hard-drinking leader of the Regulators, an elite unit of the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department.

Ray Merrimen is the recently paroled leader of the Outlaws, a gang of ex-military men who use their expertise and tactical skills to evade the law.

O’Brien, Merrimen and their crews soon find themselves on a direct collision course as the criminals hatch an elaborate plan for a seemingly impossible heist - the city’s Federal Reserve Bank.

I’ll admit when I began seeing trailers for this movie’s sequel, I completely forgot about the 2018 movie - which was a minor hit in theaters, but once it was made available on streaming, “Den of Thieves” really caught on. So, once I saw that both movies were streaming on Netflix, I wanted to take a look at them back to back. But, with some time constraints, I decided to focus more on this movie (since it was leaving Netflix by the end of May) and will still check out the sequel in a few weeks.

“Den of Thieves” (2018) delivers a lot of intense action and some of the heist moments really reminds me of some of the energetic, suspenseful heist movies of the past, especially the 1995 film “Heat.” This movie can be slightly compared to “Heat,” due to its narrative similarities, particularly the focus on a high stakes heist and the intertwined lives of cops and criminals.

The movie’s action sequences are extremely intense. Actually, not only are the action scenes intense, they are both gritty and visually engaging. A lot of the action has a realistic feel to it and the director’s choices, which includes the firearms to use and the camera angles, contribute to the gritty and engaging feel.

There are quite a few action-packed moments that really stand out. The entire Federal Reserve heist sequence is not only intense but also nerve-wracking. There were quite a few close moments where I thought the robbers wouldn’t be able to go through with the entire heist. After the heist is an incredibly edgy shoot out that is all over the place and is shot extremely well and is honestly one of the best shootout sequences I have recently seen.

“Den of Thieves” also has a huge twist at the end (like most heist movies) that really took me by surprise. And, don’t worry, I won’t go into spoiler territory for the twist. Now, even though this movie did borrow quite a few elements from “Heat ( if you have seen both “Heat” and this movie you may notice the similarities), it’s still a highly entertaining heist movie.

Trivia: Gerard Butler’s character and his crew are loosely based on former ATF agent Jay Dobyns, who consulted on the movie. Dobyns is best known for his undercover work and his willingness to infiltrate crime organizations, much like Butler’s character. “Den of Thieves” grossed $44.9 million domestically, and $35.7 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $80.5 million, against a production budget of $30 million.

MPA: Rated R for violence, language and some sexuality/nudity   (running time 140 minutes)

You can find “Den of Thieves” on Netflix through May 31 and at various PVOD rental services.