Image courtesy of IMDb
Hello, everyone.
In my previous review, I didn’t need to tease the next one like the first movie itself did. More than likely, you already knew this one was coming.
For this one, we enter the panther’s den, as I present my review of Den of Thieves 2: Pantera… and no, that doesn’t mean you should expect the band to show up.
I should forewarn you, though, that there will be some spoilers for the first movie here, so if you haven’t seen the first movie, go watch it and then read my review, and (despite doing my best to refrain from spoilers for the latest release) I think it would help if you’ve seen this one as well before coming back.
I should also note that I’ll be comparing and contrasting both (and especially considering I watched them so close to each other, there’s no way around that).
For those who have seen both, let’s continue.
The story begins with Donnie Wilson (O’Shea Jackson Jr.) joining a crew known as the Panthers for a heist at an airport hangar in Antwerp, Belgium. A red diamond and files are taken, and they make their escape disguised as a SWAT team.
Back in Los Angeles, Nick O’Brien (Gerard Butler), now divorced and on leave, is looking for answers as to how Donnie was involved with the previous crew as this new one is planning their next big heist: the World Diamond Center in Nice, France.
Nick discovers Donnie is involved here, and after meeting up, Nick tells him he wants in.
Unfortunately, with a new ally comes a new enemy, as the Italian mafia is after them for stealing the red diamond.
What Worked: A lot of what worked in the first movie is retained here. Gerard Butler and O’Shea Jackson Jr. still play off of each other very well.
Also returning from the first movie are Meadow Williams as Holly, Merrimen’s widow, and Michael Bisping as Connor (who appeared at the end of the first movie to tell Donnie about the diamond exchange across from the bar he was working at). Williams is good for the time she’s in it, but Bisping has the more interesting character.
The biggest of the new cast members is Evin Ahmad (best known as the title character on Netflix’s Who Is Erin Carter?) as the leader of the Panther crew. She’s also one of the most interesting of the new characters.
I also appreciated that they escalated the threat from a group of thieves to the Mafia.
They also added a bit of humor here, which the first one didn’t really have, and it still worked for me.
The biggest surprise was the fact that 50 Cent came back to produce this movie, considering what happened before.
Though not quite as great as it was in the first movie, the action here is still really good, particularly the big heist here and the car chase, both of which you may have seen parts of in the trailer. If there are two scenes with big stakes, it’s those. You still feel tense (particularly during the heist scene) to where you’re thinking at any moment, any one member of the crew could die.
The sound design is as much of a highlight as before.
One thing I can mention is more of a standout here is the cinematography. Because the scale here is more global (outside of Los Angeles, it’s more Europe-centric this time around), it gives this movie a huge advantage.
Speaking of advantages, while the direction and script are as solid as before (Nick even gets a similar line that’s the selling point here, and it’s just as awesome), another improvement this has is that it’s inspired by an actual heist. There was a diamond heist in Antwerp back in 2003. Having a heist that really happened as a template is a huge benefit here, and it might not be the last time they’re doing it. I’ll come back to that in the Outro.
While still not perfect, the pacing is better.
What Didn’t Work: The conveniences of the heists themselves are definitely more obvious here, and the same goes for the plot holes.
The stakes aren’t as consistent, and though we do see them escalate for the crew, we don’t really get to see that regarding others.
While still good, the score and editing don’t stand out as much.
Going back to the pacing, this unfortunately has the same issue as the first movie. It actually felt more prominent here. Both are close to 2 and a half hours, and both could’ve been trimmed by maybe 10-20 minutes.
This is more of a narrative issue for me, but while there was a diamond heist hinted at, I was expecting this to immediately follow up on that. While they did to an extent, it was not in the way they hinted at.
It may sound like I thought the first one was better because I’m comparing them so much, but again, I can’t help but do that.
If anything, they both have their advantages and disadvantages, some of which I didn’t even point out last time.
Overall: Even with its problems, much like the first one, I thought Den of Thieves 2: Pantera was still a lot of fun.
A large amount of what worked in the first one still works here, with some aspects of this one standing out more, but, again, there remains room for improvement.
I will say, though, that this sets up a third one in a clever way, and I have no doubt there’ll be more, because after how long it took between these first two movies, they’re more determined to not take nearly as long. Plus, ideas are already being pitched and other heists are being considered to use for more stories.
So far, people like these movies, as evidenced by the fact that they do really well (especially for January releases, and they’re both among the better ones). This has given Lionsgate* a much needed #1 hit after 14 months of bomb after bomb after bomb, as their last hit was The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes… which came out in November of 2023.
As it is, I’ve really liked what we’ve gotten so far, and after hearing they’re planning more, I would conclude with shockingly the only other joke I’ve managed to incorporate into the review: Much like Chris Rock with G.I. Jane 2, I can’t wait to see it**.
Where You Can Find It: At the time of this writing, though there probably aren’t as many showtimes that would be convenient for you as there may have been opening weekend (if there are any left now), it’s still currently in theaters.
Whether you’re able to right now or having to wait for streaming or home media, it’s still worth checking out.
Next time, we look at the first of three movies with various levels of enhancements… all from the same director.
*I should note that though STX Entertainment released the first movie, and were supposed to release this one, they ultimately picked it up.
**And yes, even though people have largely forgiven Will Smith with Bad Boys: Ride or Die doing so well last year, they also can’t help but find new ways to make those jokes.