DEN OF THIEVES **

"Den of Thieves" is certainly no "Heat". For a start it lacks that De Niro/Pacino dynamic that made "Heat" such a great movie but as heist movies go, it's definitely a cut above average despite an overly complicated plot, due in large part to director Christian Gudegast's decision to cut between what the police are doing and what the thieves are doing. It starts and ends brilliantly with a couple of terrific gun-battles while still managing to sustain our interest midway through, the way a good heist movie should. Unfortunately it's a film that borrows much too readily from Mann's classic in a way that isn't so much homage as rip-off. Nevertheless, if you like action flicks this is certainly the business.