Den of Thieves: A Heist Film with Depth
‘Den of Thieves’ starts off in Los Angeles where an LA County Sheriff’s Department team has to go head to head against a group of professional thieves who specialise in robbing banks. Their lives are interlinked throughout the story and climaxes on the proposed robbery on the Federal Reserve. The film is tight with the action and focused on plot throughout implementing an intense cat and mouse chase.
The film also tries to explore the themes of loyalty, deception and the thin line between lawfulness and lawlessness. Its realism matches the darkness of the setting of Los Angeles and places the audience right into the middle of heists and police work. These plot questions the presence of ethical duality, looking at how both sides of the law are not always different.
Gerard Butler gives a strong performance as the rough around the edges detective, Nick O’Brien. Pablo Schreiber delivers a performance of a quietly threatening and determined Ray Merrimen, which is impressively conveyed by their showdowns. More on the actor’s performance, O’Shea Jackson Jr. and 50 Cent gave depth to the movie and the supporting cast also provided much-needed depth to the film as they helped build up tension in the movie.
The direction by Christian Gudegast provided much needed depth to the film and it was successful in capturing the feel of Los Angeles as well as successful in maintaining the pace of the film. The way he combines action with story development keeps the audience interested, and he made each scene to have a reason to be in the film, whether it was to create tension or to show audience more about characters.
The music chosen, also creates perfect balance with the movie as the chosen genre is pretty aggressive which fits the tension build up of the action scenes. The music underlines specific scenes, creating overall atmosphere that saturates the viewer even deeper into the themes and tones of the film; The camerawork is good, capturing the large scale setting of Los Angeles with shots of vast spaces that are cut with close quarters more tense scenes. The use of look and feel builds upon the realism of the movie, and contrasts the city and darkness of the heist team. The sets – from dive bars to secure workplaces – are intricate and make the plot take place in a believable version of LA that is tangible and real.
Most of the times SFX are used sparingly, and used usually to enhance the realism of the action scenes. The stunts go hand in hand with the effects to provide the viewers with realistic and intense action, showcasing a life of dangerous robberies.
The cuts are fast, but that does not detract from the coherency of the story. Smooth transits make suspense and retain the speed of actions without confusing the viewer by the plot intricacies or the scale of shootouts.
The tone of the film is consistent, and action never stops creating suspense throughout the movie. While focusing on the protagonist’s personality and mastery of the role, it also combines dynamic action scenes with a perfectly tuned rhythm and pace, so that none of them turns out to be tediously long.
The dialogues in ‘Den of Thieves’ are clear, efficient, and engaging, which serve the purpose of providing important information besides making tension. People communicate realistically, dialogue is charged with implications, there are always hidden motives having to do with personal backgrounds, circumstances, rules that regulate existence.
‘Den of Thieves’ does have lots of action, however a movie may be too long with certain scenes being repetitive as for sub-plots or when expositions just slow down the show. Nonetheless, these resolve more profound characterisation and give a denser substance to the movie though they slow the action.
’Den of Thieves’ is a fast-paced action packed movie with much more substance than just the action. It persuades thanks to fully outlined characters, outstanding acting, and the themes which are touched upon. It is an exciting ride for crime drama lovers and those who were waiting for the heist movie.
