A good heist movie needs several key elements. He must have something to steal, be it money, power, or something that will help get those two. It also has to be quick and logical, and it has to be smarter than the audience watching it. Without these three key elements, you’ll be sitting around knowing what’s going to happen. That said, let’s dive into some of the best heist movies of the 21st century.
Ant-Man (2015)
Right from the start of the MCU trying to diversify their movies, make them less cookie-cutter, and generally expand into more than a superhero movie; Ant-Man delivers on both the heist front and the good guys vs. bad guys front. It also features for the first time (in my opinion) a criminal returning the very thing he stole, which is different.
Baby Driver (2017)
Movies and music have gone hand in hand since they figured out how to put sound to silent movies a hundred years ago. Few movies have managed to connect the two seamlessly like Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver did. With shootouts, plenty of impressive and fast driving, and a surprisingly moving connection between the protagonist and his adoptive father, you won’t go wrong watching this.
Creation (2010)
Most heist movies spend their time explaining which bank, company or house they are going to break into and what they are trying to steal from their brand. Creation spends his first half explaining the plan to get into their brand’s mind, then instead of stealing, they give/plant an idea in his head for their own benefit. It barely scratches the surface of what is truly one of Nolan’s best.
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Inside the Man (2006)
Starring Denzel Washington and at the time, an incredibly popular Clive Owen, Inside the man will have you guessing right from the start. Which is a heist movie that’s both simple and complicated. Show that bad guys aren’t necessarily bad, even if they do bad things, Inside the man is a heist film that first seems by the numbers, then quickly becomes much more.
Ocean’s Eleven (2001)
A remake of the famous “Rat Pack” with the movie of the same name from the 60s, Ocean’s Eleven spends its considerable time explaining the entire heist, start to finish, and yet still gives us more than a few surprises when it finally happens. Besides an incredibly suspicious English accent from Don Cheadle, it’s a solid and fun entry into the heist movie genre.
The City (2010)
Directing and starring in the same movie doesn’t have to be an easy task, but as he’s shown many times over his career, when Ben Affleck truly believes in a project, he can knock it out of the park. With a host of familiar and capable faces alongside Affleck, the film will quickly immerse you in the story, and before you know it, you’ll be watching the credits.
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Widows (2018)
A really short name, widows is the story of a group of women who come together, having lost their respective partners in a shootout with the police. Deciding to carry out the heist their partners planned, although some are forced into it, they work their way in by obtaining a considerable sum of money from a local politician, in an attempt to repay a local mobster that their partners owed.
Hopefully we’ll continue to have some really fantastic heist movies coming out in the next few years, but right now we’re not struggling with what we have.
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