As a self-professed fan of all things Gerard Butler (even when he doesn’t use his Scottish accent), I’m a little pissed off at myself for sleeping on Den of Thieves for so long. This 2018 crime thriller about a morally ambiguous cop trying to prevent a close-knit group of bank robbers from pulling off the heist of the century was something I admittedly put off for way too long, and I don’t really know why. Well, that recently changed…
Ahead of the long-awaited release of Den of Thieves 2: Pantera on the 2025 movie schedule, I decided to go back and finally watch the original to see what all the fuss was about. Let me tell ya, while the movie isn’t in the discussion of the best heist movie of all time, I had a ton of fun during the experience. With intense action, great set pieces, electrifying character dynamics, and a wonderful twist ending, there was a lot to love. Let me explain…
I Thought Den Of Thieves Would Be Some Mid-Tier Heat Knockoff, But I Was So Wrong
The critical response to Den of Thieves wasn’t all that great, with CinemaBlend only giving the movie two out of five stars in our official review back in January 2018, so I didn’t have the highest of expectations going into the movie. If anything, I thought it would be nothing more than some mid-tier Heat knockoff like so many other action thrillers since one of the best ‘90s movies first hit the big screen, but I was so wrong.
Yeah, there are some similarities between Christian Gudegast’s 2018 crime film and Michael Mann’s 1995 epic, but the movies are two completely different beasts. Despite both having loud-as-hell robbery scenes, and cat-and-mouse chases through the streets of the Greater Los Angeles area, Den of Thieves never felt like it was ripping off Heat, but instead paying homage or using it as inspiration.
The Dynamic Shared By Gerard Butler And O'Shea Jackson Jr.'s Characters Was Incredible And Really Made The Movie
At the heart of Den of Thieves is the incredible dynamic shared by Gerard Butler’s Detective Nick “Big Nick” O’Brien and O’Shea Jackson Jr.’s Donnie Wilson, a bartender and getaway driver for the Merrimen bank robbery crew. Though the leader of the team, Ray Merrimen, played by Pablo Schreiber from The Wire cast, does have an integral role in the plot of the film, I kept finding myself being drawn to the relationship at the core of the O’Brien/Wilson story.
I can’t get over how neither of these guys live in worlds of absolutes, as neither is entirely good while also not being entirely bad at the same time, if that makes sense. O’Brien, though a cop, is a morally ambiguous person who’ll do anything he can to solve a case or at least get a lead. He’s unfaithful to his wife, prone to violent outbursts, and seems like he has some serious skeletons in his closet. And Wilson, who has been to prison and carries out some violent heists where multiple people get killed, doesn’t seem evil.
Though not the same, they have more in common than they’d like to admit, which adds tension and excitement to the movie overall.
The Opening Robbery Was One Of The Loudest Movie Scenes I've Watched In Years
I’m a sucker for movies with great opening scenes, and I guess I have to add Den of Thieves to that list because the first five minutes or so of this crime thriller go hard in the paint. Seriously, the shootout that immediately follows the Merrimen team hijacking the armored truck at a donut shop in the pre-dawn hours is one of the loudest scenes I’ve watched in years.
Okay, remember just how loud the shootout scene in Heat was (if not, here’s a reminder)? Well, the Den of Thieves opening is right there with it. I could feel each gunshot that came through on my speakers in my living room (and this isn’t a top-of-the-line setup, but instead a soundbar). I’m talking thuds, shatters, vibrations galore. After that, I knew I was hooked.
The Final Heist Felt Like A Video Game, And I Mean That In The Best Way
I mean this in the best possible way, but the final heist in Den of Thieves felt a whole lot like something out of a video game. With the Federal Reserve in downtown Los Angeles as the target where the crew will take $30 million in old bills retired from circulation before they can be destroyed (essentially making the money untraceable), a plan that involves a fake bank robbery as a distraction, and then yet another shootout, I was on the edge of my seat (and staying up way too late) finishing it.
The way that one thing led to the next, the small victories, the minor mishaps that turned into something large, the multiple planes of action, it all felt like something out of the final mission of a Grand Theft Auto game. Never once was I bored throughout this.
I'm Glad I Didn't Read Any Spoilers Because The Den Of Thieves Ending Was Great
Spoiler Warning: The final section of this story contains major spoilers for the Den of Thieves ending. If you haven’t watched the movie, please stop and check it out with a Max subscription.
Okay, with the spoiler warning out of the way, I have to talk about the Den of Thieves ending and how I’m glad I didn’t have it ruined for me before watching. Basically, in the chaos of the final shootout, Donnie escaped police custody and was able to get away, but without the cash. Or, so Big Nick and the audience are led to believe.
In the final scene, it is revealed that not only did Donnie get away with the cash (which he sent to an offshore account in Panama) but that he was actually the mastermind behind the whole plan all along. He gave Merrimen and his crew the details about the gig, he was friends with insiders at the Federal Reserve, and he was a criminal mastermind getting ready to pull off his next heist: a diamond exchange in London. And that’s where Den of Thieves 2: Pantera will pick up.
Man, I’m really glad I finally got around to watching Den of Thieves. In fact, it was one of the best movies on Max I’ve watched in a while, and now I’m all jazzed up for the sequel.
