Den of Thieves: The Butler did it

Sometimes the best movies are not the latest blockbuster releases.

Sometimes they turn out to be the ones you missed, such as the hard-edged 2018 crime drama Den of Thieves, starring Gerard Butler.

It’s been seven years since its release, but it hasn’t aged a bit.

Den of Thieves is about a gang of well armed ex-Marines who decide to rob the Federal Reserve in Los Angeles.

It’s the work of writer/director Christian Gudegast, who was one of the writers of London Has Fallen (2016) which also starred Butler.

We’re informed early in the film that Los Angeles is the bank robbery capital of the world, with a robbery every 48 minutes.

The action gets underway when the gang led by Ray Merrimen (Pablo Schreiber) hijack an armored truck.

The ensuing shootout with police leaves several dead, including one of Merrimen’s own crew, as the hijackers escape with an empty truck.

The hijack attracts the attention of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Major Crimes Unit, headed up by “Big Nick O’Brien (Gerard Butler).

He immediately suspects the recently parolled Merrimen as the most likely suspect.

Nick tasers and kidnaps bartender Donnie Wilson, who confesses to acting as the gang’s getaway driver.

He describes a large sum of cash stolen from a stadium, but denies knowing their plans and is released.

When Merrimen learns what happened he interrogates Wilson at gunpoint who admits O’Brien questioned him.

To his surprise, Merrimen tells him to let O’Brien about the bank job they are planning.

That’s because Merriman’s real target is the Federal Reserve where he plans to make off with $30 million in old, untraceable bank notes before they can be destroyed.

Den of Thieves also features Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Evan Jones, Dawn Olivieri, Mo McRae, and Max Holloway.

It’s a tense, gritty, well written piece, driven by plenty of machismo, with lots of big, bearded, heavily muscled men.

Both sides are kitted out in SWAT-style fatigues and body armour, and pack heavy calibre automatic weapons.

The action is explosive and fast-paced, and neither side seems to mind who gets shot if they get in their way.

The end justifies the means, it seems.

We’ve seen it all before, but if you like bank heists and lots of action, you won’t be disappointed.

You have to wonder however why the Sheriff’s department would condone a shootout like the one in the closing scenes in traffic where so many innocent bystanders are likely to get hurt.

Think of the paperwork!

Although set in Los Angeles, Den of Thieves was filmed primarily in and around Atlanta, Georgia (reportedly to leverage tax concessions).

Director Gudegast apparently told Butler he needed to beef up and he gained over 10kg for his role as “Big Nick”.

Prior to filming, two separate boot camps were established in order to get the cops and the robbers in shape for their respective roles.