Den of Thieves (2018) is basically Heat for meatheads - but a really fun movie nonetheless

Watched Den of Thieves, starring Gerard Butler, Pablo Schreiber and O'Shea Jackson Jr, recently on an international flight. This is basically Heat's baby brother, where Heat is the sophisticated, mature older brother and Den of Thieves is the loud, brash, and dumb younger sibling. For DoT ostensibly is almost a greatest hits cover of Heat - a group of bank robbers ripping off joints in LA, and a band of cops gunning for them. But whereas Heat was more concerned with the innate complexities of the process, method and consequence of playing cops and robbers, DoT harbours no such lofty pretensions - it's more visceral and in your face, and more concerned with slick, in-the-moment action.

That's really both the movie's strengths and weakness. Cause there really isn't much going on narratively speaking - there are some bank robber dudes, they are macho, tough and badass. There are some mildly corrupt cops, who are also macho, tough and badass. These two badass squads face off against each other a few times, and some people die. And that's about it. There's not much in the way of character development or thematic depth. The writing is very often corny and melodramatic. There's nothing particularly surprising about anything that happens.

With that being said - this is still a pretty damn entertaining movie. The action set pieces are well-directed and choreographed, with a good sense of space and geography. The climactic shootout is especially intense (even though parts of it stretches belief a bit too much). It's generally pretty well-paced too.

The performances are a big selling point as well. Gerard Butler is absolutely delightful as a greasy, douchey pillar of toxic masculinity. He really commits here (but when does he not?) and chews the scenery like no one's business. The guy may end up in a lot of stinkers, but you can never say he doesn't give it his all.

Pablo Schreiber is pretty damn good too, and really brings a lot of color to a character that could've been boring and one-note otherwise. The dude just has some insane screen presence. Both 50 Cent and Baby Ice Cube were solid as well.

So yeah all in all Den of Thieves is a solid heist thriller. Just know what to expect going in and you may be pleasantly surprised.