Den of Thieves is written and directed by Christian Gudegast, a screen writer who has seen success with other movies in the Action genre, including A Man Apart in 2009 and more recently London Has Fallen in 2016. Unfortunately, this being his first time in the director’s chair, his vision for the film is lost in a disconnected plotline and draped in a blanket of gunfire and explosions.
The main character in Den of Thieves is Major Crimes Detective Nick Flanagan, played by Gerard Butler. Butler and Gudegast had worked together on London Has Fallen. Butler’s list of co-stars that receive the most screen time include Pablo Schreiber, 50 Cent, and O’Shea Jackson Jr. three members of the bank heist crew the detective has been tasked with catching.
The film begins with a massive shoot out, thousands of rounds of ammunition and multiple explosions get dragged out for what seems like eternity. If I had known this would become the premise of the whole film, I may not have sat for the next two and a half hours. The reality of this film being that it could have had the same affect had it been one hour shorter. Every action or suspense scene is long and drawn out leaving you saying “oh, just hurry it up all ready” about an hour in. And the script in between lends itself to heavy profanity with little or no substance added.
Leading me to the fact that the plot was just too predictable. Like a road I had driven a hundred times before, I could predict when and where each and every twist would be. To add insult to injury, the multiple themes and subplots of the movie were never strung together or resolved, leaving me frustrated with an incomplete story.
Overall, the action is enough to get this movie an average score. But, everything else seems to fall through the cracks. Simply put, this film is just another bank robbery film, nothing more nothing less. Save your money and stream it later.
