It wasn’t lengthy after Den of Thieves hit theaters in 2018 that author/director Christian Gudegast started engaged on a sequel to the heist film. Now, seven years later, Huge Nick is lastly again, hitting the 2025 film calendar with Den of Thieves 2: Pantera. This time Gerard Butler’s character is pursuing O’Shea Jackson Jr.’s Donnie Wilson after he escaped to Europe with plans to execute a brand new theft. Critics had been capable of display screen the flick forward of its January 10 theatrical launch, so let’s see what they’re saying about this second installment.
Whereas seven years could have handed in actual time, Den of Thieves 2: Pantera picks up proper the place its 2018 predecessor (out there to stream with a Max subscription) left off, with Nick O’Brien reeling after being bested by the thief. Huge Nick goes after Donnie, and what follows is a surprisingly good time, in accordance with Christian Zilko of IndieWire, who grades it a B. Regardless of its mid-January launch and ridiculously unserious subtitle, the Gerard Butler film is much extra entertaining than it has any proper to be, the critic says, writing:
Pantera opts to embrace the silliness, buying and selling the cat-and-mouse sport for a buddy comedy dynamic between two charismatic characters. Huge Nick is a caricature in the most effective senses of the world, a block of testosterone and self-loathing who takes his endeavors so cartoonishly critically that it’s exhausting to not be immersed in his foolish adventures. Jackson embodies Ronnie with much more charisma the second time round, and his whiz child attraction serves as the right foil to Huge Nick’s depth. Gudegast retains the slick set items shifting at such a brisk tempo that you just’ll have an excessive amount of enjoyable to cease and think about the logic of any of it.
Chris Bumbray of JoBlo provides it a “Good” 7 out of 10. The critic admits getting in with low expectations however was pleasantly shocked by the slick sequel. Bumbray says Pantera is way more enjoyable than the primary movie with its recent Euro-style vibes, and he wouldn’t be shocked to see Den of Thieves 3 someplace down the highway. He continues:
Whereas, identical to the unique, Den of Thieves 2 is simply too lengthy (working over 140 minutes), the pacing is tighter, thanks largely to the truth that it’s way more targeted than the unique movie. In Den of Thieves, Gudegast, in attempting to pay homage to [Michael] Mann, spent an excessive amount of time on too many uninteresting facet characters to offer them pathos. He doesn’t get caught in that lure right here, with Butler and/or Jackson hardly ever offscreen. All of it builds as much as a climactic heist sequence that’s punctuated by a nifty automotive chase/ shootout that’s very well-executed.
Matt Schimkowitz of AV Membership provides Den of Thieves 2 a B-, saying that is lighter than the primary film, as Christian Gudegast has toned down ethical ambiguities and cranked up the personalities and likability of the characters, making for a “funnier, chummier heist.” Schimkowitz says:
Fairly than clashing with actuality, Gudegast as an alternative tones down the depth in his sequel. Pantera is extra Tenet than Thief, however the European air does Butler and Gudegast effectively, taking them out of their consolation zones and opening the door for a special type of film. Funnier and extra targeted on the homosocial bonding of its leads, Pantera is lighter on motion and heavier on scenes of Nick and Donnie crashing scooters and burping up shawarma. The film lives and dies by the chemistry between Butler and Jackson, coasting a bit on Butler’s dirtbag charisma to get him on the viewers’s facet.
Owen Gleiberman of Selection calls Den of Thieves 2: Pantera a satisfying impersonation of a high-end crime movie, saying that Gerard Butler is sweet sufficient to elevate “a chunk of pulp so it nearly looks like an actual film.” The critic continues:
The heist itself is brash, enjoyable, and unattainable to imagine (which, for me, type of tamped down on the enjoyable)… Watching Den of Thieves 2, you don’t a lot droop your disbelief as slip it a sedative for about 25 minutes. But Gudegast, for all his casualness towards plausibility, is an energizing filmmaker. He retains the mano-a-mano standoffs buzzing, and he’s obtained a sixth sense for how one can showcase Butler as a glamorously matted schlock model of Soiled Harry–meets–Popeye Doyle-meets–Deadly Weapon-gone-lone-wolf.
Frank Scheck of THR, nevertheless, isn’t right here for the sequel or the bromance, saying the chemistry between Gerard Butler and O’Shea Jackson Jr. isn’t as fascinating because the director thinks it’s. Add the too-long runtime, and Scheck calls this heist film extra “numbing” than invigorating. He writes:
‘Isn’t this case closed by now?’ wonders considered one of Nick’s police colleagues early within the proceedings, and viewers could discover themselves asking the identical factor because the movie stretches interminably on. Butler employs his reliable rough-hewn charisma to usually positive impact, even when he’s extra satisfying within the Has Fallen collection and such surprisingly enjoyable one-offs as Aircraft. However Jackson too usually appears out of his depth, his character coming throughout as extra passive and reactive than threatening.
It seems like in the event you’re capable of droop actuality for lengthy sufficient (most likely too lengthy) to go alongside for this buddy heist flick, you is likely to be in for a great time. If Den of Thieves 2: Pantera sounds just like the mid-January film you’ve been on the lookout for, you possibly can catch it in theaters now.