Den of Thieves 2: Pantera - If At First You Don’t Succeed, Wait Seven Years and Try Again
By Chris Knight
Rating: D+
Most sequels make sense, one way or another.
Gladiator II, while a long time coming, built on an admired and Oscar-winning property from a quarter-century ago. Twisters was a fun reboot of a fondly remembered and even older summer popcorn flick. Wicked II is coming next November because there will be riots if it doesn’t.
But what did Den of Thieves ever do to warrant the oddly named Den of Thieves 2: Pantera?
The original, a confusing, overlong cops-and-robber action movie starring Gerard Butler (cop) and O'Shea Jackson Jr.. (robber), opened (like its sequel) in the doldrums of January, taking third place at the box office in its first weekend, and quickly sliding down in the charts. It ultimately earned $45-million in North America and even less overseas, making it the 68th highest grossing film of 2018.
Gerard Butler and O’Shea Jackson Jr. play cop and robber in Den of Thieves 2: Pantera
Audiences were so-so in their assessment; critics less so. Yours truly declared it a “first offence” from filmmaker Christian Gudegast, before realizing the term I was looking for was “directing debut.” I was rooting neither for the cops nor the robbers, but for moviegoers, hoping they stay away. Most did.
Now, seven years and one pandemic later, Gudegast and his cast are back with another heist to pull. The original was the Federal Reserve Bank in Los Angeles. This one moves the action to Europe, which is standard for second-rate sequels. You wait; No. 3 will be set in space.
It opens with a criminal gang hijacking an aircraft (already on the ground it should be noted) and stealing a diamond, which they’ll use to infiltrate the diamond district of Marseilles, where an even bigger heist is planned.
The “Pantera” in the title, by the way, is not a new hair product but Italian for “panther,” a reference to a European jewel-thieving mafia. But I was reminded of the equally confusing sequel Sicario: Day of the Soldado (soldier). May I suggest that movies with five-word titles pick just one language and run with it?
Anyway, the Antwerp airport heist that opens the film is an oddly lackluster affair that could have been saved in editing. As it stands, it unfolds with what I can only call split-minute timing.
Once “Big Nick” O’Brien (Butler) gets wind of it, he heads to Europe himself to investigate and — wait, is he throwing in his lot with the criminals? Or is this a double-cross? Or dare I say a triple-cross, known in Canada as a double-double cross?
Figuring out Nick’s motivations may be the most fun you’ll have over the film’s two-hour-plus runtime, though that isn’t saying much. Among the movie’s go-nowhere scenes are one in which Nick bullies an exotic dancer for information inside a shipping container; and one in which his French police contacts bully him for his poor pronunciation of “croissant.” Give him a break, man, he’s Scottish!
Butler and O’Shea give it their all, but only Superman could turn this script (co-written by Gudegast) from coal into a diamond. Among the odd asides is one in which Nick explains that the only reason robberies are so lucrative is because of the time and energy expended by authorities to prevent it, which makes less than no sense. It sounds like a defund-the-police rant from a five-year-old.
Sorry to have to add this, but Den of Thieves 2: Pantera concludes on a note that could ultimately lead to yet another sequel. So, stay tuned in 2032 or thereabouts for Den of Thieves 3: Éspace. Butler will be in his sixties by then, and perhaps looking for a Liam Neeson-type action role. You’ve been warned.
Den of Thieves 2: Pantera. Directed by Christian Gudegast. Starring Gerard Butler, and O’Shea Jackson Jr. In theatres January 10.