Den of Thieves 2: Pantera (2025)

​"Den of Thieves 2: Pantera" stars Gerard Butler, O'Shea Jackson Jr., Evin Ahmad, Salvatore Esposito, Meadow Williams, and Swen Temmel.  Released on January 10, 2025, the film has Nick O'Brien tracking down Donnie Wilson in Europe.

The film is written and directed by Christian Gudegast, who wrote screenplays for "A Man Apart" and "London Has Fallen".  It is a sequel to Gudegast's 2018 film, "Den of Thieves".  Usually, I'd start the new year off by reviewing a new horror movie that may be surprisingly good or disposable trash, mainly the latter.  However, since I didn't feel like repeating the same mistake, I decided to switch things up by checking out the new movies unrelated to supernatural demons or whatnot.  One of them is yet another crime thriller that sees Gerard Butler returning to kick criminal butt and charm audiences with his endearing accent.  However, this isn't just another action film I'm looking at this weekend.  Instead, it is another follow-up to a movie that didn't need one but got anyway because of money.  That movie was "Den of Thieves", a surprisingly lengthy heist drama that featured Butler hunting down a team of robbers and paid homage to classic heist thrillers like "Heat".  Regardless of the quality, audiences enjoyed it, and Hollywood took it as a sign that they wanted more heist shenanigans with Butler and O'Shea Jackson Jr.  But is this latest heist worthy of its unnecessary existence?  Let's find out.

The story occurs immediately after the events of "Den of Thieves".  Sheriff Nick "Big Nick" O'Brien (Butler) is recently down on his luck after getting divorced from his wife.  Meanwhile, Donnie Wilson (Jackson Jr.), a former marine-turned-criminal mastermind, has relocated himself and his accomplices, led by Jovanna (Ahmad), to Nice, France, where they formulate a plan for their next heist.  Their latest strategy has Donnie embroiled in the world of diamond thieves and the infamous Panther mafia as they attempt to rob the world's largest diamond exchange.  Big Nick managed to track down Donnie, but in a surprising turn of events, Big Nick proposed an alliance with Donnie to accomplish the heist.

While I respect Gerard Butler for his attempts at drawing in his audience, some of his recent action endeavors didn't impress me as much as others.  Of course, they weren't without their merits involving the entertaining thrills that kept them above mediocrity.  2018's "Den of Thieves" was no exception, as Christian Gudegast made a solid directorial debut after writing screenplays for other action movies like "London Has Fallen", another Gerard Butler-led sequel.  It was unnecessarily long, and the character-driven moments lacked much depth in its average shoot-em-up narrative.  However, Gudegast did a decent job of envisioning the gritty violence through the presentation and suspense, especially during the film's second half.  Even though I wasn't generally excited about its sequel, I was hoping for another watchable experience involving Butler shooting his way out of trouble, similar to its predecessor.  

With the first film set in Los Angeles, "Pantera" took an extra step by moving the heist overseas but retains the harsh outlook of the criminal underworld.  It's also said to be based on the 2003 Antwerp diamond heist, according to Gudegast, which was dubbed one of the largest heists in history, so you could say that the film is sort of inspired by true events.  While it's not anything we haven't seen before, the international setting in the sequel helped provide some interesting stakes in the scenario rather than have a different heist in the same city.  Additionally, the film has the two characters from different sides of the law, Big Nick and Donnie, joining forces to steal diamonds instead of being enemies.  But, even with these changes, "Pantera" still had the task of delivering the entertaining thrills and manly grittiness that made its predecessor a hit for audiences, which it did for the most part.

"Den of Thieves 2" retains the familiar merits from its predecessor to provide another watchable and well-made outing for Butler fans.  Unfortunately, it also didn't learn from the mistakes it made from its first heist, including its runtime.  What kept me from enjoying "Den of Thieves" more than I should have was the length, which was about as long as a Marvel Cinematic Universe movie.  "Den of Thieves" took a straightforward plot about a group of thieves robbing the Federal Reserve and added some extra baggage in its dialogue-driven expositions, leaving only the intense and thrilling moments for the second half.  It wasn't dull, but it did have several moments that could've been trimmed down to make it 20-30 minutes shorter.  "Den of Thieves 2" failed to correct this mistake by making it four minutes longer than its predecessor while maintaining its familiar pattern: Plenty of expositions in the first half, followed by the heist and an action scene in the second half.  The first film's runtime was forgivable because of its enjoyable, masculine-focused plot and direction, but when the sequel committed this similar crime, it started to become challenging for me to give this duology a third chance.

It also didn't help that "Den of Thieves 2" delivered an underwhelming and barebones narrative that failed to pack as many surprises and intrigue as its predecessor.  In addition to returning to the director's chair, Christian Gudegast was back to write the screenplay for the sequel.  Despite a few changes in the location and character dynamics, Gudegast struggled to make them worthwhile amid its lengthy expositions and uninteresting side characters.  Luckily, the scenes involving Nick and Donnie were enjoyable enough to endure through its fundamental storyline, especially the one involving Donnie telling his backstory.  It also provided a few suitable jokes to make the sequel a bit more lighthearted than its gritty predecessor, and yes, I did chuckle at most of them.  Other than that, there's not much else in the script that stuck out as much as the first film regarding its genre formula.

But, at the very least, the movie was entertaining and well-crafted enough to put it above the law.  Despite the screenplay having too many issues in its plot elements, Christian Gudegast has proven once again to be a surprisingly solid mastermind regarding his direction.  Like its predecessor, "Den of Thieves 2" had Gudegast relying on wide-angle shots over close-ups, shaky cam, and frenetic cuts to provide some of the most gorgeous and immersive imageries in the action genre.  Of course, he didn't forget that they're also crucial for capturing the movie's action up close, mainly the car chase in the second half, assisting the audience in keeping up with the violence.  The car chase scene was engaging, but it didn't reach the same level of intensity as the third-act showdown in the first film.  Terry Stacey, who returned from its predecessor to provide the cinematography for "Pantera", deserved plenty of credit for making these shots look stunning, even if the narrative failed to reach this similar height.  Gudegast also delivered the riveting suspense of the diamond heist sequence, which was enough to forgive the first half's sluggish preparation.  Regardless of the quality, I could definitely see Gudegast directing more movies in the future, especially ones from the action genre.

As for the cast, they made a serviceable effort in carrying the film's stretched-out narrative, especially Gerard Butler.  It bears repeating that Butler is one of the actors who can deliver enough charisma in his acting to make his mid-tier movies watchable.  Whether playing a rough yet humane character or a tough sheriff seeking justice, Butler has the necessities to elevate a project from its doomed fate.  His diverting performance as Big Nick was no exception, combining his character's rugged and reckless personality with a bit of softness to make him less intolerable.  O'Shea Jackson Jr. was also pretty good as Donnie Wilson, continuing the star's recent comeback to acting following his four-year absence.  While not as memorable as his earlier roles like "Straight Outta Compton", I still admit that Jackson Jr. has a brighter future ahead of him that his father would be proud of.  Evin Ahmad also did a suitable job as Jovanna, the co-leader of Donnie's new team of criminals.

Overall, "Den of Thieves 2: Pantera" offers plenty of entertainment in its international heist but doesn't offer much else to make it shine as bright as diamonds.  This is another sequel that didn't have a reason to exist other than to capitalize on Butler's stardom and earn more money but delivers enough respectable merits to compensate.  Regarding its decent cast and Christian Gudegast's direction, "Den of Thieves 2" is an enjoyable ride that benefits from its gorgeously shot cinematography.  Unfortunately, it's also a mildly uninspired action crime drama that's too lengthy for its own good due to its runtime and average screenplay.  If you liked the first film, then you'll probably enjoy the sequel, though how much you'd like it would depend on your expectations.

C