Den of Thieves (Film Review)

2018 STXfilms
Written and Directed by: Christian Gudegast
Starring: Gerard Butler, Pablo Schreiber, O'Shea Jackson Jr., and Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson
MPAA Rating: R; Running Time: 140 Minutes
The Nicsperiment Score: 8/10

An armored truck is stolen in L.A., and police are killed. Enter detective "Big Nick" O'Brien and his crack team, the Major Crimes Unit, who soon find they're up against another crack team, a unit of ex-Marines led by Ray Merrimen, who plan on using the armored truck to pull of a major heist. The cat and mouse games begin, but soon it is not only unclear who the cat and mouse are, but which team are the good guys and which are the bad. It's 1995's Heat by way of 2018 and a truckload of Monster Energy Drinks...and it's pretty damn good.
I'm sure why Den of Thieves works so well. There are essentially three films here. There's a film starring Gerard Butler as Big Nick, a dirty cop who parties with his police brothers as his personal life is on the brink. Nick drives around, barreling into every setting like a bull in a china shop, then gets back in his truck, staring off in the distance as he runs his hands through his hair, wondering why everything is falling apart. The second film stars Pablo Schreiber as Merrimen, the ex-Marine and large scale thief who keeps his life ordered, helps his brothers in crime keep their domestic lives smooth, yet engages in professional activities that not only put other's lives at risk, but sometimes result in the death of innocents. The third film consists of what is actually happening while Nick and Merrimen go head to head, as, unlike in Heat, there's a late film twist that recontextualizes everything that came before.
The performances here are all incredibly fun and pitch perfect, from the scenery-chewing Butler, to the steely, determined Schrieber, to O'Shea Jackson Jr. as a small-time crook, who seems to be a small cog getting crushed between two big wheels. The film is shot and paced magnificently by writer/directer, Christian Gudegast, who will throw in a seemingly random slice-of-life scene here or there that in retrospect always shades in exactly the lines Den of Thieves needs filled. Terry Stacey's cinematography deserves special credit for bathing the film in the orange Los Angeles light at times, and at others drenching the film in blues and reds; there are plenty of other films in this genre that are content to slap an orange or blue-filter over the lens and call it a day, but Stacey always feels like an active participant in making Den of Thieves feel alive.
Sure, there are derivative elements here, and the ending twist weighs on logic like a massive pile of ill-begotten cash. Still, Den of Thieves always gives the sense that its heart and mind are in the right place. There's even a massive, incredibly satisfying, extended final shootout AND mano y mano between Big Nick and Merrimen that I believe will set this film apart in viewers' minds for decades to come. 

In face, after a few days' reflection, I think Den of Thieves might just be one of the best action films of the 2010's.