Criminal Squad

Im Vergleich zu Butlers Spielen, wie die US-Präsidenten beschützt werden, ist es eine Erscheinung. Ein dreckiger Krimi mit harten Polizisten, die als "Gang“ funktionieren, und mit Schuften, welche zwar wie Mörder aus dem Gefängnis aussehen, den Polizisten aber immer einen Schritt voraus sind. Eine gute Drehbuchidee mit dem Hauptbankraub (der Schauplatz), mächtige realistische Schießereien. Es wird ziemlich viel von dem klassischen Film Heat übernommen. Der ist aber auch schon mehr als zwanzig Jahre alt. Und vor allem – wenn es seine zweitklassige Version sein sollte, dann ist es eine verdammt gute Version. (24.12.2019)

The script has more holes than a Swiss cheese, which you can see especially during the well narrated heist and then the final twist, which is anything but clever, even though it wanted to be something like The Usual Suspects. And what do we have otherwise? A clash of two strong personalities and a story that relies on atmosphere rather than action, which we only see at the beginning and the very end. So it's a kind of second-rate Heat, and Butler is no Al Pacino, Schreiber is nowhere near a DeNiro-type personality and Gudegast can’t hold a candle to Mann. But if don’t compare, then the emphasis on the characters, the slower pace, the atmospheric realities of L.A., and the ultra-macho Butler as we want to see him, all sat well enough with me and I'll give the four slightly overrated stars, despite the botched twist. (16.05.2018)

Gudegast has a real weakness for the duo of crime classics from the year 95. And he doesn't even try to hide it, in other words, he does his best to imitate them, from stylization to the course to individual twists. Yes, it is a “wannabe" tribute to the two classic movies made by a routine guy with no inventiveness more than anything else, but even such a second-rate non-original genre move can make you happy. And the movie is really good at it, because it hit exactly the pure essence of uncompromising macho rough crime movies. It just slightly slavishly copied scenes from the original movies, so you always know “what´s going on and what to expect". The movie should have been a little bit shorter and should have skipped Nick's family vicissitudes (they're not bad, but annoyingly clichéd and useless because nothing comes out of them), because they just obstruct an otherwise entirely nice and straightforward spectacle. It is exactly that type of manly movies, for which we used to go to video rentals in the 1990s. Moreover, this one is so good that it could almost keep up with the competition at the time. (06.01.2019)

A perfect affair after a long time! Gerard Butler plays another great, tough anti-hero, and I don't think he's had a better role since Law Abiding Citizen (it's a shame this dude does comedies, these movies suit him!). There's a great bunch of thieves, all ex-Marines, capable, intelligent, solidly equipped, who plan to rob a bank that no one has ever managed to rob before. There's less action, but when it gets down to it, it's gritty shootouts that with perfect sound, feel gritty and real, and most importantly, strategic. Butler entertained me a lot with his performance and he played the gangster cop brilliantly. Suspenseful, well shot, well thought out with an unexpected twist at the end, with the highlight of course being the bank robbery itself, which left me holding my breath. A proper guy’s flick. 85%. (12.04.2018)

Though the visible parallels with Heat cannot be denied, Den of Thieves stands firmly on its own two feet. Whereas Michael Mann, director of the former film, came up with a stylishly refined portrait of two antagonists with professional respect for each other and deals with the ethics of the world of crime and justice, Christian Gudegast offers viewers a precision heist flick with a clever screenplay that deliberately winds up the viewer’s attention. --- SPOILERS FOLLOW --- The story has three central characters, which are presented to us over the course of the film, but only so that we can reassess everything ourselves at the end. However, he gives us ambiguous indications during the film that perhaps everything will not be what it seems. The filmmakers surprisingly use elements of overwrought machismo, where they have sullen mastodons march past the viewers, without in any way depicting them as likable characters. Though, in accordance with genre conventions, we are automatically conditioned to simultaneously sympathise with the cop and appreciate the ingenuity and coolness of his antagonist, over time the film reveals both of them to be unlikable, obstinate assholes. Whoever at first appeared to be a great guy turns out to be a fanatical workaholic, the experienced and shrewd nice guy is shown to be a tragic pawn and revealing the brain of the whole operation shows that whoever can merely play stereotypical masculine roles will always have the upper hand over those who dully live them. (16.05.2020)

Yet another take at cops and robbers, or else Heat with a very likeable array of actors. Butler as the son of a bitch cop at last in his first great role for a long time. Schreiber makes a good opposite number. Top-notch action with a fantastic final shootout in the traffic jam. Great one-liners. Wow. (03.03.2019)

We finally know how Heat could have looked like if Michael Mann hadn't directed it. What's missing here is the precision of direction, the plot sweep, the feel of concrete, the neon of LA and above all the depth and fatality of the characters. Macho Butler is over the top and Schreiber as a villain, though contrived, needed a more resonant persona. The most interesting character is 50 Cent, thanks to his family background. The original is the materialised reality of everyday life, but this copy is "just a film" that also tends to repeat the classics in places. For example, in the end, and then in the opening thrilling ambush of the armoured car. (15.04.2018)

Der Film beginnt mit dem Überfall eines gepanzerten Wagens durch eine Gruppe maskierter Räuber. Es scheint eine perfekt ausgeführte Arbeit zu sein, bis einem von ihnen die Nerven durchgehen und sie einen Zeugen erschießen, was zu einem blutigen Massaker führt (Kommt euch das bekannt vor?). Dann kommt eine Gruppe von Polizisten unter der Leitung eines harten Kommandanten am Tatort an, der aufgrund seiner engagierten Arbeit familiäre Probleme hat und von seiner Frau dafür kritisiert wird (Kommt euch das jetzt bekannt vor?). Danach wechseln sich Szenen aus dem Privatleben der Charaktere, Polizeiüberwachungen, Planungen des Raubüberfalls ab und gleichzeitig entwickelt sich zwischen dem Dieb und dem Polizisten eine besondere Beziehung. Es folgt der perfekte Raubüberfall aus dem Titel, gefolgt von einem lauten und langen finalen Schusswechsel zwischen Polizisten und Dieben, der mit einem Duell zwischen den beiden Hauptgegnern endet, bei dem der Zuschauer vor Spannung kaum atmet, denn das geht weit über die bloße Inspiration aus Heat hinaus, das ist ganz klar sein Plagiat! Und als ob das nicht genug wäre und die Schöpfer nicht wegen des vollständigen Kopierens nur eines Films angeklagt werden könnten, kommen in den letzten zehn Minuten noch Szenen aus einem anderen notorisch bekannten Thriller der 90er-Jahre hinzu! Aber anscheinend stört das hier niemanden besonders. Den of Thieves an sich hat eine gute technische Qualität, die Actionszenen sind großartig und die Schauspieler überzeugend, aber das plumpe Kopieren kann einfach nicht übersehen werden. Gudegast ist ein Plagiator. (08.06.2018)

If I wanted to be mean, I'd say Den of Thieves is to Heat what the TV movie Gridlock is to Die Hard 2. But then again, it's not that bad. The problem is that DoT is once again a product of the pernicious "gym cinematography (c)", a trend of films (especially action films) getting made by producers, directors, and actors meeting in gyms and fitness centers, as opposed to the 80s/90s where they mostly met at cocaine parties. It's like all these muscular bald guys in tank tops slapping each other's shoulders, walking with their arms a meter away from their bodies and swinging. And they're always sweating. Unlike their predecessors, the two protagonists are not trying to outsmart each other, but instead are constantly comparing cock size. The plot digressions to the families of the two members of the opposing sides are utterly disastrous, as they spend two scenes awkwardly trying to explain how their way of life affects their families. With 50 Cent in particular, we see in the first scene him threatening his daughter's boyfriend and later in the next scene his daughter telling him she loves him and that's it! That’s all it takes. WTF? What kind of puts it over the top (besides my tolerance for movies where people shoot at each other) is Pablo Schreiber, whose minimalist, contained performance really sells the illusion that there's some grand plan going on in his head. What utterly fails, however, is the macho posturing of the spoiled Butler, here playing a completely unrealistic paper moron who is probably supposed to be cool and gritty but instead acts like an eight-year-old in a leather jacket. Scenes where he eats donuts out of a bloody box at a crime scene, forces his way with a crowbar into a bank, presumably occupied by hostage-taking robbers, or his luxurious unleashing of a firefight in a convoy of cars full of civilians are where the whole concept gets buried completely. On the other hand, given that they had to break Gerald's neck for the poster photo, it may have been worth it. (20.06.2018)

An utterly unoriginal film with very decent action and an insufferably macho Gerard Butler, whose "Big Nick" O'Brian, when not delivering macho one-liners or gesticulating in a macho way, makes chewing gum out of excess testosterone. I can get over the fact that the plot wasn't exactly original, my problem was more with the fact that the filmmakers didn't let me relate to the characters at all. So, I didn't care much about their fate and thus couldn't feel any suspense. And action films without suspense just don’t do it for me. (24.06.2018)