There’s little doubt that director Christian Gudegast’s primary intention in making Den of Thieves is to emulate Michael Mann’s classic 1995 thriller, Heat. The similarities – from the overall plot to individual story beats – are too close to be coincidental. And, although the peaks of this movie come close to matching Heat’s taut, high-octane approach, Den of Thieves falls short when it comes to elements like narrative coherence, character building, and strength of acting (…). Nevertheless, setting aside the Heat comparison, Den of Thieves delivers an above-average cops-and-robbers heist film (…). — James Berardinelli