[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]It’s late and I’m tired, I should probably go to bed. But, instead, I’m up watching Den of Thieves, a heist movie that released in January of this year. The first thing I need to acknowledge about this film is holy crap, there are so many well-known faces in this picture, at least well known to me. We have Gerard Butler, Pablo Schreiber, O’Shea Jackson Jr. (oldest son of well known rapped Ice Cube), 50 Cent, Evan Jones, Cooper Andrews (The Walking Dead), Maurice Compte (Narcos), Lewis Tan (Iron Fist and Deadpool 2), and so many more. I’m out of breath and I’m typing this whole thing.
Den of Thieves follows the usual trope of thieves who aspire to do the impossible aka break into the Federal Reserve and rob it. What is interesting about this film is the two sides of the story. We have Ray Merrimen (Schreiber) and his crew, all former Marines who are highly trained and in no way dumb. They plan every job out and don’t shoot unarmed civilians, just as they were trained. We then have Nicholas “Big Nick” O’Brien (Butler) who is a seasoned cop, head of his own task force of men who bend the law. As Big Nick says at one point to Donnie (one of Merrimen’s men), “you’re not the bad guys, we are”. There are times where you absolutely do not like Big Nick and it’s easier to root for the opposite side than his.
I find it really creative on the costume designer’s part to give each member of Big Nick’s crew their own style. Care was put into distinguishing one man from the other; some wearing jeans and a leather jacket, another with a big handle bar mustache, and one in a suit. I don’t know why I liked this detail, but I did.
Donnie is the driver for Merrimen, a very ambitious thief who is the one proposing the idea of breaking into the Federal Reserve. He has a tight-knit group of people who he works alongside and their loyalties to each other are deep. One scene that I actually had to laugh loudly at was when a boy came to take 50 Cent’s daughter to prom and he took the boy into a room, where all of his crew of large, intimidating men were in. Needless to say, I wouldn’t go against anything 50 Cent had to say at that moment.
In the movie, Big Nick gets his hands on Donnie, a young man who is very good at driving. There was a scene that reminded me of something straight out of Baby Driver; Donnie’s skill on the road is what made him so valuable to Merrimen. Unfortunately, for Donnie; Big Nick plans on using him as a way to pin the criminals for all the unsolved heists that have Merrimen’s signature on it. Big Nick is a wild card, playing fast and loose in several unnerving and tense scenes.
I think what I also liked about the film was the Polynesian influence, telling of the area they live in. Merrimen’s and Big Nick’s groups are diverse and they’re all close with each other, which is honestly refreshing to see in movies where it’s so obvious one group of people against the other. The film takes creative liberties as any project does; what gun range allows you to smoke in it?
The most enjoyable aspect of this movie is the twist at the end. It’s no M. Night Shyamalan twist, but more of Christopher/Jonathan Nolan twist. It’s extremely clever and great writing. I won’t give it away, because I really think you should give this a watch. It’s a little slow at times and there were some scenes that could have been skipped for the sake of moving the plot along, but then maybe we would have had too rushed of a movie? Either way, as far as heist movies go, this is a unique one that shouldn’t get thrown away and forgotten about.[/vc_column_text][vc_video link=”https://youtu.be/FKd_ks0rdAM” align=”center”][/vc_column][/vc_row]