I was not planning on watching "Den of Thieves"; before watching, I had not seen a single trailer for the film. However, I fancied a trip to the cinema and did not want to watch "Early Man", so found myself purchasing a ticket for Gerard Butler's latest crime-thriller. What a boring and overlong film this is! "Den of Thieves" runs for 140 minutes but could have so easily told its story in less than two hours. The pacing is slow and the twist that is revealed in the last moment fails to stimulate any excitement or surprise. Although Gerard Butler has worked on much worse projects, "Den of Thieves" is forgettable and I doubt it will appeal to many.

Writer/director Christian Gudegast is his film's own worst enemy. Gudegast has written a screenplay loaded with unlikeable characters and has also directed this film in the most pedestrian way possible. It was a mistake for "Den of Thieves" to tell its story from the perspective of the sheriff unit as well as the robbery crew. This meant that the film had no protagonist or antagonist; it was not very clear who the audience was supposed to be backing. Gerard Butler's 'Big Nick' is introduced to the audience as a sheriff who has an aggressive streak and does not appear to take his job too seriously. Big Nick is also revealed to be an absent father and husband when he returns home at 6am to an unhappy wife (who later divorces him). On the other hand, Pablo Schreiber's 'Merrimen' is a serial criminal and is the leader of the burglars. The robbery crew's motivation is never explained; therefore when their heists are portrayed like a scene in a "Mission: Impossible" film, the audience has no reason to route for them. An argument could be made that Gudegast is suggesting that there are bad people in the world who are not criminals but it is essential that a film has, if not a likeable lead, one the audience can sympathise with. The rest of the characters (on both sides) are thinly written other than O'Shea Jackson Jr.'s Donnie. Probably the film's most likeable character, Donnie is presented as the innocent one who is just following orders. However, we never find anything else out about Donnie other than his job and impressive driving skills. Gudegast took a risk by telling a story from a balanced viewpoint, but it ultimately made the film feel aimless, vanilla and quite confusing (what side are we supposed to be on?).

"Den of Thieves" is Gudegast's directing debut and it is ultimately an adequate endeavour. His directing choices are rather bland, failing to pump any energy or excitement into his boring screenplay. Gudegast could have used many different techniques to create a stronger sense of tension. A film like "Logan Lucky" told the story of a heist with style and vibrancy, "Den of Thieves" tells a story on a grander scale with uninspired shots and mundane editing. Gudegast does get credit for stringing together a film where the narrative is coherent and easy to follow, even if it is stretched thin over 140 minutes. "Den of Thieves" is not bad enough to end Gudegast's directing career; hopefully his next film will give him the opportunity to make a picture that is much more engaging. The final shoot-out starts off entertaining with some strong shot types but quickly becomes monotonous. This film has also been criticised for ripping off Michael Mann's "Heat"; I have not seen "Heat" so cannot comment on the similarities between the two films, but Gudegast should work harder to write and direct films with a style of his own to avoid criticisms like this.

Gerard Butler is an actor who has failed to impress me in recent years; his performance in "London Has Fallen" was shockingly bad. However, in "Den of Thieves", Butler is more than tolerable, and it was clear he tried to do something interesting with his character. Butler was never as funny as he wanted to be (most of his jokes fell flat) but it was welcoming to see him make an effort. Pablo Schreiber does what he can in such an underdeveloped role. His performance reminded me of a lite-version of Jon Hamm in "Baby Driver". This is O'Shea Jackson Jr.'s mainstream follow-up to "Straight Outta Compton"; this time he was not stuck in the shadow of his father. Jackson Jr. is probably one of the best things in this movie; though my fondness towards him could be due to him being the only likeable character. SPOILERS: The film attempts to reveal a twist surrounding Jackson Jr.'s Donnie; Donnie is actually the leader of the crew and has been orchestrating each heist from afar.  The film uncovers this by panning up to a photo in the bar Donnie worked at; The picture shows Donnie and the rest of the crew as members of the same football team; There is then a flashback of an earlier line Donnie said. For me, this twist was quite far-fetched; there are no clues spread throughout the film, and it is literally revealed in the last scene. Although Gudegast was likely attempting to make the audience feel shocked as they leave the theatre, it actually results in Donnie losing his likability and will go over the heads of most. As for the rest of the ensemble, Maurice Compte, Evan Jones, Mo McRae and the others have little to work with and therefore give fittingly forgettable performances. 50 Cent is probably the film's weakest link; Gudegast's script does provide 50 Cent's Enson with some development but it is unnecessary, and 50 Cent delivers it in a forced and unmemorable way.

Despite their performances ranging from good to forgettable, each actor plays a character ridden with toxic masculinity. All of these characters uphold traditionally masculine norms; they are aggressive, unemotional and have troubled relationships with women (if they even speak to women at all). This is problematic, especially in Hollywood's current climate. For such an androcentric film, it would have been refreshing for Gudegast to represent a range of different male personalities.

"Den of Thieves" would have been a much more thrilling and interesting film if it was 30 minutes shorter. The plot is stretched to a 140-minute run-time leading to many dull and unexciting scenes as the narrative plods along. The performances are mostly solid even though each actor has to tackle a thinly written and unlikeable character. Gerard Butler is surprisingly bearable, and O'Shea Jackson Jr.'s career continues to move in a nice direction. For a film about daring bank robbers and unruly police officers, Gudegast approaches this in a rather pedestrian and uninspired fashion; While it is a satisfactory directorial debut, I doubt that offers for future projects will be rapidly pouring in. Some fans of the crime genre or "Heat" may get something out of "Den of Thieves" but for most, it will feel like 140 minutes of lost time.