Den Of Thieves 2: Pantera Review: I Was Hoping For Dumb Fun, But It's Just Dumb

Writer/director Christian Gudegast’s Den Of Thieves is not a film that particularly appealed to my personal sensibilities, but it did allow me to go into the sequel with an open mind and reasonable hopes. My dislike of pretty much every character in the 2018 release held me back from engaging with the story, but I can subsist on standard heist movie machinations, and I’ll admit to being surprised by how breezy I found the 140-minute runtime.

I went into Den Of Thieves 2: Pantera with the most basic of expectations – more of the same – and yet it still managed to leave me disappointed. There is consistency in that I still don’t like any of the characters (that goes for both the established ones and the new faces), but it shortchanges in the story department. As much as it tries to dress things up with a new setting and a new treasure, the film’s story machinations are far less compelling and exciting, sapping it of the original’s fun and rendering it a snooze.

Gerard Butler returns as Nick O'Brien, who remains dedicated to finding Donnie Wilson (O'Shea Jackson Jr.) after letting him slip through his fingers in the aftermath of the Federal Reserve ordeal in the first movie. When he hears reports of an armed robbery at an airplane hangar in Antwerp, he becomes convinced that Donnie was involved, and he rides the hunch to Nice, France where his suspicions are confirmed. Breaking into the criminal’s apartment, Nick makes threats and waves around a defunct U.S. Marshals badge, but instead of making extradition plans, the protagonist instead says his law enforcement days are done and insists on being a part of Donnie’s crew, the Panthers, for his next job: the heist of a diamond vault.

Nick is integrated into the work-in-progress alongside his nemesis-turned-friend’s vaguely drawn criminal colleagues, and they slowly work out a way to circumvent the various security devices hindering their path to a great treasure. This isn’t the only problem, however, as the former cop alienates two members of the crew, turning them into enemies, and it turns out that Donnie stole a high-carat diamond from the mafia in the hangar job and has to get it back.

Den Of Thieves 2: Pantera underwhelms with bland characters and an uninspired plot.

The entire existence of Den Of Thieves 2: Pantera is predicated on the idea that audiences want to see the continued tête-à-tête between the drunk/edgy detective and the smarter-than-he-looks thief – but if you didn’t really click with the characters in the first movie, you’re A) not going to find yourself reassessing while watching the sequel, and B) not going to make any satisfying discoveries within the supporting ensemble. No depth is added to the characters, nor is there any suggestion of growth or development, and while heist movies characteristically provide opportunities for interesting personalities that come paired with special skills, it’s a genre staple that’s whiffed at.

The film does provide a new dynamic for Nick and Donnie, who become friends amid their criminal collaboration (a move taken right out of the Fast & Furious playbook), but the characters working toward a shared goal is the only original thing that is brought to the table. While the former is now working outside the confines of the law, it’s hardly a stretch from the light in which he was presented in the first movie: an alcoholic, womanizer who alienates his family and bucks up against any form of authority. As for the latter, the most interesting thing about him was the Keyser Soze Lite twist included in the final minutes of the previous story highlighting him as a secret mastermind, and the follow-up fails to find any way to further define him beyond “smart crook.”

Beyond Den Of Thieves 2’s main characters, the fact that it doesn’t feature any attempted scene-stealers in its ensemble isn’t something that’s particularly surprising given that it’s also a lacking quality in its predecessor, but I nonetheless can’t say that I’m not disappointed. I’m a general sucker for the small clashes that unfurl between smart-aleck tech geeks, exacting safe crackers, low IQ bruisers, etc., but this is a series that has now twice failed to scratch that particular genre itch. Neither strong personalities nor notable skills make themselves apparent within the roster of the Panthers, and it further adds to the movie’s dullness.

There is a complete failure by the film to take advantage of its European setting.

A similar level of laziness can be perceived in its utilization of setting. It doesn’t seem to be unreasonable to expect a flavor change when action is moved from downtown Los Angeles to Southern France, but the closest that Den Of Thieves 2: Pantera gets to this idea is a running joke about how Nick pronounces the word “croissant.” There isn’t any kind of geographic specificity in the production design, cinematography or set pieces; it ultimately feels like a simple play to artificially add scope to the world, and like much of the film, it’s extremely shallow upon reflection.

Getting one’s hopes up for any movie released in January is typically a fool’s errand, as the month is famously a theatrical dumping ground for studios – but even with properly adjusted expectations, Den Of Thieves 2: Pantera is still a letdown. I wanted some dumb fun, but all I got instead was the dumb, and it sets a very low bar for a second sequel that the end of the film very clearly sets up.