_Den of Thieves_ is like the male reproductive organ: exciting at each end but long and boring in the middle.

It's a trap most films of this genre fall into. An action scene at the beginning to grab our attention and one at the end for a climax, but in the middle nothing but cliches. And with the European version clocking in at TWO HOURS AND TWENTY MINUTES (WTF!?) there's **a lot** of room for cliches.

The renegade police squad as bent as the criminal gang they're pursuing is a cliche we've come to expect, but too much time is wasted demonstrating how '3-dimensional' and 'fleshed out' these men are. To be sure, there's enough beefcake here to choke the deepest of throats (Gerard Butler, Pablo Schreiber and 50 Cent are so cut their shirts keep falling off), so they're 3D and fleshed out all right, but family men? We're meant to believe they consider family important, yet the only proof of that we're given is they feel guilty every time they treat their families like shite.

It's a shame, really. Christian Gudegast does a competent job directing the action and suspense, but he should've stuck to that rather than drawing so heavily on the source material (a 1992 non-fiction book by Pulitzer Prize winning author James B. Stewart).

No, Den of Thieves is not the epic cops and robbers film it thinks it is. It's simply a giant fake boob: over-inflated, self-aggrandizing and not as unique as it thinks it is.

I've always wondered why nobody ever thought of pinching the banknotes that were about to be shredded or incinerated and making a killing! Well "Merrimen" (Pablo Schreiber) has alighted on just such a plan - and he aims to relieve the Federal Reserve of $30 million in a daring heist. Unfortunately for him, local cop "Nick" (Gerard Butler) has been following him for an while, and when one of his other would-be raids results in his leaving with nothing but dead policemen in his wake, "Nick" apprehends his suspected associate "Donnie" (O'Shea Jackson Jr), learns of the plan and determines to both thwart it and to apprehend his nemesis. So far, it's all quite interesting and the first half hour is pretty action packed. Thereafter, though, the whole thing sort of grinds to an halt. The planning and execution of their robbery is interspersed with the police counter-plan in a dialogue heavy - frequently peppered with some unedifying homophobic language - and clunkily delivered fashion. There are just too many characters; most people who have a gun couldn't hit a barn door with a shovel and the two leading characters do little, if anything, to engage the audience. I actually found myself wanting "Merrimen" to succeed, and Butler just hasn't the gravitas to carry this for what seemed like an endless 2¼ hours of relentless chases, misses, more chases and more misses before an ending that had a touch of chivalry to it, but that I found not worth the wait.

For a movie that's basically just _Heat_, _Heat_ this ain't.

_Final rating:★★½ - Had a lot that appealed to me, didn’t quite work as a whole._

Den of Thieves is a heist/caper film with a running time of 140 minutes. Den of thieves plays tribute to classic crime thriller movies, including Heat (1995) and The usual suspects (1995).

It is the directorial debut of Christian Gudegast, he also wrote the script and produced the film. The film features two fast paced action sequences; at the beginning and at the end of the film. The acting, videography/cinematography and music/sound in the film was good. The plot twist was very good but the film contained some plot holes, some deficiencies in the writing.

Gerard Butler portrays the character of Nicholas "Big Nick" O'Brie is a Los Angeles county Sheriff who is hell bent on capturing the Ray Merrimen's crew. His character is seen as creating a balance between his personal life, which is strained by divorce and separation and professional life, which is focused upon catching the bad guys. Pablo Schreiber plays Ray Merrimen, a former US marine, who is the crew's leader and intents upon robbing the Federal Reserve Bank in Los Angeles. O'Shea Jackson Jr. portrays Donnie Wilson, who is the designated driver of the crew and a full time bartender. 50 cent, Evan Jones, Cooper Andrews portray the characters of Levi Levoux, Bo Bosco and Mack respectively as Ray Merrimen's crew.

In February it was announced that Den in Thieves 2 is in production and will be a sequel to the film.

Final verdict: 6.5/10

Great Movie! Loved the plot and the twist. Tense throughout. Glimps of The Usual Suspect
All star cast. Must watch