Art of the Steal: 'Den of Thieves 2' and Remixing the Heist Film

Sure, it's a copy of a copy of a copy... but is it entertaining?

When “Den of Thieves” came out in 2018, it sparked a fair amount of debate among folks who enjoy crime movies. Some belittled the flick as “meathead ‘Heat,’” blatantly ripping off the Michael Mann playbook down to the electronica soundtrack and the intricate robberies, albeit with a borderline-toxic dose of ultra-macho posturing. Others defended it as flawed but entertaining, especially Gerard Butler’s willingness to chew every bit of available scenery as a crooked cop hunting down the heist crew led by Pablo Schreiber’s Ray.

It’s not like we get a lot of decent heist films anymore, a friend told me at the time. We have to take what we can get, even if they’re copycats.

Except I couldn’t see past all the bits snipped wholesale from Mann. If memory serves, my grumbling started seconds into the film’s opening armored-truck heist and rose to a faint scream two hours later, just as Ray’s crew pulled off a successful big score only to find themselves embroiled in a running gunfight against t…