The cop goes gangster in Den of Thieves 2: Pantera. And if anyone can pull that off with grit and believability in equal measure, it’s Gerard Butler. The Airplane and How one can Practice Your Dragon star reprises his position as Detective ‘Huge Nick’ O’Brien from 2018’s Den of Thieves and brings alongside O’Shea Jackson Jr. once more because the intelligent heist man, Donnie.
If the primary movie was an intricately produced cat-and-mouse heist during which a steely detective (Butler) desperately tries to catch a viable foe (Jackson), the second movie is director/author Christian Gudegast’s try to shake the artistic snow globe. He brings Huge Nick to the within of an elaborate European diamond heist and forces him to work with an unlikely companion: Donnie, the person he’s been in any case alongside. That’s a fab flip, positive, making Den of Thieves 2 2025’s first subversive buddy film. However, like many buddy movies, issues listed below are hit-and-miss.
It is Good to See These Guys Once more
3
/5
Den of Thieves 2: Pantera
Sheriff “Huge Nick” O’Brien tracks Donnie Wilson to Europe after his daring escape. As Donnie turns into deeply concerned with diamond thieves and the Panther mafia, the stakes rise with a plan to rob the world’s largest diamond alternate. The movie guarantees intense motion and suspense throughout worldwide borders.
- Launch Date
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January 10, 2025
- Director
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Christian Gudegast
- Runtime
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0 Minutes
- Solid
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Gerard Butler
, O’Shea Jackson Jr.
, Meadow Williams
, Jordan Bridges
, Evin Ahmad
, Swen Temmel
, Bob Jennings
, Michael Bisping
, Salvatore Esposito
, Orli Shuka
, Cristian Solimeno
, Nazmiye Oral
, Yasen Zates Atour
, Dino Kelly
, Rico Verhoeven
, Velibor Matter
, Antonio Bustorff
, Yuri D. Brown
, Birol Tarkan Yıldız
, John West Jr
, Ciryl Gane
, Mark Grosy
, Ignacio Herráez
, Stéphane Coulon - Writers
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Christian Gudegast
- Studio(s)
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Environment Leisure MM
, Diamond Movie Productions
, G-BASE
, Leisure One
, Tucker Tooley Leisure
- Gerard Butler is nice and has fantastic chemistry with a enjoyable O’Shea Jackson Jr.
- The brand new setting and addition of some wonderful chase sequences make this a contemporary sequel.
- The brand new buddy-cop dynamic fits this franchise.
- The movie is just too lengthy, and the repetition of some motion sequences get tiring.
- The heist itself is a bit too convoluted and overdone.
Having Butler and Jackson reprise their roles is the excellent news. Extra sketchy is the filmmaker’s fierce insistence on this being a basic heist movie, it doesn’t matter what. This film aches to be one thing akin to 1969’s The Italian Job by means of 2001’s Heist with 1981’s Thief and 1995’s Warmth tossed in for good measure. The vibe feels a bit too compelled if not, as soon as once more, bloated, clocking in at almost two and a half hours.
4:35
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As soon as the preliminary set-up is established — Huge Nick and Donnie teaming up — Gudegast’s script manages to efficiently seize the brand new dynamic because the fellas try to outsmart a brand new slew of harmful criminals with out getting killed within the course of. The movie soars excessive when it mixes nice motion sequences and suspense, however feels weighed down by the filmmakers’ makes an attempt at being cleverly difficult and paving the best way for one more sequel. It is a very zealous method to crafting a extra intricate heist movie, and units us up for Den of Thieves 3.
Huge Nick is humiliated over being duped by Donnie throughout that Los Angeles Federal Reserve Financial institution heist from Den of Thieves when this movie opens. His life all of the sudden uncontrolled, Nick’s been benched from the drive and divorce papers have been filed. Obsessed about how Donnie outsmarted him, we quickly be taught extra about Donnie’s disappearance into the European legal underground. A brand new massive plan is about to roll and Huge Nick, seeing crimson, needs nothing however revenge. Destiny has different plans for the person.
Gerard Butler Helps You Keep Affected person
It takes some time earlier than we’re deep into Staff Nick & Donnie. You see, Donnie is planning a extra elaborate heist in Europe, and it’s based mostly on the 2003 Antwerp diamond heist. This ups the stakes significantly within the storytelling and execution. Who doesn’t admire a diamond heist caper? Right here, we’re taken to the within of a European legal underworld, the place an enormous theft is about to go down.
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Luckily, the best way Huge Nick and Donnie have to hitch forces feels plausible and well-written. That would have gone horribly improper. As an alternative, it permits for a swift transition into these two foes changing into unlikely allies. The plan is to interrupt into one of many impenetrable World Diamond Facilities in Antwerp, Belgium. Huge Nick and Donnie’s cohorts are concerned and go alongside for the thrills throughout the Mediterranean, creating a brand new form of thieves’ den.
General, this works, and when you’ve got persistence for the movie to search out its footing — a number of persistence — there’s some enjoyable available right here. It’s Gerard Butler, so, it’s onerous to go improper and, at this level within the man’s lengthy profession, it’s refreshing to see a seasoned actor nonetheless absolutely dedicated to the characters he takes on. Butler loses himself right here, disappearing into this iteration of Huge Nick. That alone is price the price of the film.
Thrilling Motion Sequences and Drag-Out Fights
Filmmaker Christian Gudegast’s devotion to heist movies is clear all through Den of Thieves. The person has received this down, but tends to nonetheless let this sequel drag at a number of junctures. This forwards and backwards between prolonged set-ups after which vigorous motion creates an unstable really feel to the general pacing of the movie, and at occasions, you’d swear you’ve seen one thing like this final week on an elaborately produced streaming sequence you have binged. There’s an inclination to both zone out or pinch your self to concentrate and soak up all the small print, of which there are lots of.
However once more, the whole solid, the scenic locale, and Gudegast’s sharply executed motion sequences really feel downright wondrous. One throughline within the movie is that Nick is impressed by Donnie’s thoughts, however on the similar time, he needs one other probability at getting him. And good. Followers of elaborate heist movies will admire the depth and element this movie presents and its layered storytelling. As an example, early on, a flight carrying diamonds from Johannesburg is hijacked in Brussels, and thieves wearing Police Federale SWAT gear sprint off with jewels price tens of thousands and thousands. A single large pink diamond turns into a candy attract. Enter the French police chief (Yasen Zates Atour), who blames the Panthers, an elite posse of thieves from the Balkans.
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Donnie is the one who companions with the Panthers initially, posing as a reputable gems supplier, so we see loads of inside dealings and the tough fellas who will finally spar with Butler’s Huge Nick in a while—and in ways in which might go away you breathless. Watch how sensible the likes of Salvatore Esposito (as Slavko), Orli Shuka (as Dragan), Cristian Solimeno (Florentin), Dino Kelly (as Marko), and Rico Verhoeven (as Vigo) ignite their scenes.
The Den Is Getting a Bit Crowded
As if the movie wasn’t stuffed sufficient, toss into the combo a Mafia don, Matteo “The Octopus” Venzolasca (Adriano Chiaramida), who’s seething in regards to the theft — that’s his pink diamond. He orders his thugs to get it again, irrespective of the price. These sorts of characters arrange an elaborate balancing act of plot threads and particulars and struggle scenes and automobile chases to trace. There’s plush Mediterranean surroundings in addition. Hiya, thrilling and winding automobile chase so excessive above the countryside. We love you. (Gudegast used the all-electric Porsche Taycan for these sensible scenes.)
Themes that discover the high-quality line between cop and legal come into play, however that artistic card isn’t overplayed (a lot). Finally, like the primary outing, Den of Thieves: Pantera hopes to light up that the cops and criminals are equally complicated and fallible. This provides the movie, like its predecessor, a form of relatable, razor-sharp deal with character. The film’s buddy-film element works in its favor, too, as we uncover a couple of new layers to each Huge Nick and Donnie, and marvel if and once they can both work collectively once more or, maybe higher but, attempt to outwit the opposite for one more riveting journey. Keep tuned. Seems like this “den” is about to broaden. Den of Thieves: Pantera opens in theaters January 10 from Lionsgate. Discover theaters and showtimes right here.