Gerard Butler has delivered numerous action thrillers in recent years. One in particular stands out from the crowd: Criminal Squad. Tonight the film is on TV.
He has long since shed the RomCom face of the 2000s: Gerard Butler was able to reinvent himself as an action star in the past decade. An important film on this path was Olympus Has Fallen, which made him a competitor to Keanu Reeves (John Wick), Liam Neeson (Taken) and co.
Even if Butler doesn’t lead Hollywood’s biggest blockbusters, he has carved out a niche for himself in contemporary action cinema. With the heist thriller Criminal Squad, he even presented his own version of the action masterpiece Heat. It’s a relentless ride through the streets of Los Angeles.
Gerard Butler on the heels of an action masterpiece: Criminal Squad has a very special fan
In Criminal Squad (originally Den of Thieves), Butler takes on the role of Detective Nick “Big Nick” O’Brien, who doesn’t take the law too seriously. To catch criminals, he likes to cross the boundaries of legality himself. In the very first scene he is introduced as an absolutely disgusting, ruthless cop.
You can watch the trailer for Criminal Squad here:
By now, word has spread among genre fans that Criminal Squad isn’t stock footage. Here is a dirty film that does what it wants and doesn’t give a second thought to what others think about it. And it has an unexpected but all the bigger fan: director Christian Petzold.
Petzold is known for films like Phoenix, Transit and Undine. His latest work, Red Sky, is currently showing in cinemas. He included Criminial Squad in his list of the best films of the 2010s. In the video above he explains his decision.
