The Hatton Garden safe depository heist happened just over three years ago but it has already inspired the production of three British films based on the event, all of which explore the burglary which is considered to be the largest in English legal history, with an estimated £200 million stolen from the upper-class area of London in 2015. King of Thieves is the latest such release, and arguably the most prolific to date: directed by James Marsh and starring Michael Caine, Jim Broadbent, Tom Courtenay, Charlie Cox, Paul Whitehouse, Michael Gambon and Ray Winstone amongst others, The King of Thieves is a straightforward crime-caper whose promising cast and intriguing story are wasted by a lackluster execution and poor script.
A famous thief in his younger years, 77-year-old widower Brian Reader unites a band of misfit criminals to plot an unprecedented burglary at the Hatton Garden Safe Depository. Using their old-school skills and contacts, the thieves – almost all in their 60s and 70s – plan the heist over the Easter holiday weekend and end up roughly £200 million richer for their troubles. But as the investigation intensifies and tensions begin to flare, the group become distrustful of each other and clash over how to share the loot.
Cashes in on previous genre glory
Wearing its influences on its sleeve, The King of Thieves decides to cash in on the genre’s previous glories while forgetting to bring any sense of style or grit to proceedings itself, leading to a disappointingly rote and conventional crime-caper. With heist film footage interspersed throughout this 108-minute piece (often of the actors themselves starring in superior genre entries during their heyday), Thieves frequently finds itself reminding its audience of the film they could be seeing, inadvertently installing a sense of frustration with the viewers, with which it brings upon itself. Absent creativity or innovation, The King of Thieves provides only the most rudimentary level of enjoyment.
If you were to pinpoint the film’s biggest flaw, it would come down to the uneven and inconsistent screenplay. Joe Penhall’s script seems content in playing it conventionally, straying too close to the heist narrative formula than one would like. While you may argue that it comes down to the makeup of the real-life story, it struggles to produce anything new and ultimately fails to align with the general intrigue of the story at hand. Furthermore, it strains to balance the lighthearted ‘hip replacement’ humour with the dramatic heft and intensity of the fallout, something which holds The King of Thieves back: just as it shows progression of its themes and story, it is undercut by the often forced and stale gags which hinder as frequently as they hit.
Thieves’ real crown jewels are its stellar cast
Although responsible for a number of critically-acclaimed projects – a Best Picture nominee (2014’s The Theory of Everything), a Best Documentary winner (Man on Wire) and an Emmy-nomination (for his work on HBO’s The Night Of) – during his career, director James Marsh fails to bring the same expertise to play here, facing clear difficulty with Thieves‘ script that impacts his execution of the tale. Unable to subvert such an uncomplicated, clear-cut retelling, his attempt to nail a consistent style is unsuccessful here and, in this case, Marsh lacks the grit or resolve to take Thieves to the next level.
Blandly filmed and cheaply assembled, Marsh does little to make this anything other than passable, lackluster entertainment you will have likely forgotten as soon as the credits have rolled. Let’s consider this one a blip on his record, until he proves us otherwise.
King of Thieves‘ real crown jewel, though, is the stellar ensemble. Filled with heavyweight hitters from the British film profession, the cast entertains even when the script gives them little to work with, indicative of their natural charm and industry legacy. Michael Caine leads, bringing a fair amount of sympathy to Brian, while Jim Broadbent plays it against-type with a performance oozing with nastiness and bile. Charlie Cox provides some gravitas, and you feel empathy towards the character (known only as Basil) because of his well-balanced turn; while the youngest of the group by a considerable distance, one would argue that he delivers the most wellrounded performance of the bunch.
With more squabbling and backstabbing than a high school playground and more testosterone than a barber’s shop, Thieves operates well in exploring the group dynamic as their downfall begins – despite some repetitive content that becomes a little tiresome.
In Conclusion: The King of Thieves
Not bad but rather bland, The King of Thieves is too simply constructed to fully capitalise on its solid cast and compelling true-life crime story. Its difficulty in balancing the film’s tone results in an uneven piece too inconsistent to fully enjoy, but it is entertaining enough in the most basic way; this is more of a film you’d catch on television late one night, as opposed to one that demands the full theatrical experience. Despite a gold-plated cast, The King of Thieves scraps to deliver the goods due to a blandly-executed retelling of a more intriguing, rich story.
What is your favourite heist film?
The King of Thieves it out now in the UK. Additional release dates can be found here.
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