‘Den of Thieves 2: Pantera’ Review
Gerard Butler has carved out a neat corner of action cinema for himself that ostensibly begins with 2013’s Olympus Has Fallen and its subsequent sequels. Butler’s presence has given films that would have been relegated to streaming services a chance to flourish on the big screen, and this has resulted in surprisingly burly action vehicles like Plane finding financial success. Another entry in the Butler action canon that fared far better than anyone could have expected was Christian Gudegast’s Den of Thieves. Unabashedly indebted to Michael Mann’s Heat, but with just the right amount of sleaze and energetic action sequences, Gudegast crafted an intoxicating crime vehicle for Butler that serves as one of the actor’s best characters put on screen. Now with its sequel, Den of Thieves 2: Pantera swaps out its tactical action and sun-drenched cops-and-robbers narrative for stylish heists in a surprisingly effective tonal switch highlighting its director's impressive action film vocabulary.
Picking up soon after the events of the first film, Den of Thieves 2: Pantera opens with a tense airport heist in Antwerp, Belgium, that serves as the beginning of a much more significant scheme to rob the World Diamond Center in Nice, France (Gudegast’s central operation is itself based on the world’s largest diamond heist). Helming the plan is Donnie (O’Shea Jackson Jr.), who has been on the lam in Europe since the first film’s Federal Reserve heist when he fled LA with millions of dollars. After the airport theft catches the attention of “Big Nick” O’Brien (Butler), he hops on a plane to Nice and visits Donnie - except this time, he doesn’t want to bust him; he wants in on the score. It's a switch not unlike the good-guys-gone-bad narrative (and vice-versa) that has been a cornerstone of the Fast and Furious franchise.
Thus sets in motion Gudegast’s attempt at a fish-out-of-water navigation of Butler’s greasy, macho Big Nick, who has no badge to protect him from his antics and minimal experience being on the complete other side of the law. There’s an almost humbling quality to Butler’s performance, who starts his visit to Europe walking into a police station making fun of croissants and French cuisine before being brought down to Earth in the presence of drugs at a fancy party with Donnie’s crew. It’s a startling shift for a character whose testosterone-fueled powertrip in the original was integral to the character working so effectively, but it’s one of many shifts in Den of Thieves 2: Pantera that results from the transition between LA-set shootouts to Ocean’s Eleven-style thievery. Part of the appeal of the sequel is its willingness to try something different, even if it is merely a different interpretation, and see how the fabric of the first film settles within the new approach.
The result feels more open to expansion. It’s not the finely tuned operation of the first film; it’s a collection of criminals from varying backgrounds who can all bring their baggage or leave it at the door. It’s also a film that, like the Fast and Furious franchise, features a cast of international actors thanks to its European setting and conceit of bringing together the best of the best. Gangs of London’s Orli Shuka is a charming addition to the crew as Dragan, as well as Evin Ahmad, who, as Jovanna, brings intelligence and elegance to the crew of buff alpha males. However, the standouts are undoubtedly Butler and Jackson Jr., whose relationship turns more into a bromance than the first film would suggest and maintains a lighter touch to the film. The shaggy tone of Den of Thieves 2: Pantera has limitations when trying to rethink the dynamic between Big Nick and Donnie, but it works surprisingly well for a large swath of the film.
Some elements of the narrative feel expendable, specifically the entanglement of the Sardinian mafia, which unfortunately seems to exist almost solely to widen the film's scope and set up a potential sequel. There are a lot of similarities to be found in the sprawling crime network that Gudegast weaves with the one found in Gareth Evans and Matt Flannery’s Gangs of London. However, too much media is embedded in the DNA of Gudegast’s screenplay to draw direct comparisons without accepting that he’s found a clean way to remix familiar action beats. Like a really good music producer, Gudegast is aware of his influences and will sneak them in as tactfully as possible, but is still working towards making something that works best when played in its entirety. The slower pacing of Den of Thieves 2: Pantera can be felt at times because those influences are evident to those also attuned to them, but when everything clicks in place, and the film reaches its tipping point, there’s nothing sweeter.
At a certain point, it becomes evident that the film is less concerned with infusing bullets and violence for its thrills and is more inclined to build towards a satisfying payoff. It’s a surprisingly smooth sailing operation that Donnie is masterminding, underscoring his role in the first film and more explicitly demonstrating his skillset here. There are a lot of minor wrinkles in the planning stages that are cleverly solved, but it’s the heist itself where the rubber hits the road, both literally and figuratively. Various stunts, including some intense vehicular work and visceral hand-to-hand, are parsed out through checkpoints that let the adrenaline ride to a fever pitch before exhaling, only to ratchet the tension again. There’s also a seamless transition from suave, hands-off action to more grueling tactical work as the film progresses, emphasizing Gudegast’s deft direction.
Replacing Cliff Martinez’s score from the first film is an impressive facsimile from Kevin Matley, who supplies the film with a steady rhythm of booming electronica that meshes with the European setting and the muscle-bound stature of its characters. It’s moody and intense, going a long way to solidifying the film’s tone. There are a lot of reasons why Den of Thieves shouldn’t have been as good as it was when it came out, from its obvious influences to its despicable characters. However, Den of Thieves 2: Pantera proves that the secret to it all wasn’t about hiding any of that; it’s about making it all click together, so it makes sense. If there was doubt that Gudegast’s directorial debut was a fluke, the effectiveness of his sophomore feature in shifting tones without losing that special sauce proves that he’s one of the most compelling directors working in action films today.
