Den of Thieves 2 is a surprisingly respectable sequel that improves upon the unique.
PLOT: After his life is ruined within the wake of his reckless conduct, LASD cop Nick O’Brien (Gerard Butler) heads to Antwerp to trace down his former foe, Donnie Wilson (O’Shea Jackson Jr.). Nonetheless, as an alternative of revenge, Nick needs to money in and joins forces with him to rob the World Diamond Middle.
REVIEW: I wasn’t the world’s largest fan of the unique Den of Thieves. It felt like a lame retread of Warmth, albeit with none of Michael Mann’s type and substance – however hey, what do I do know? Towards all odds, the unique movie was a sizeable hit, so right here we’re six years later with a sequel, Den of Thieves: Pantera. I wasn’t anticipating a lot however I used to be pleasantly shocked by how a lot I loved this slick sequel, which, to me, had a singular, Euro-style vibe that felt contemporary in the way in which its predecessor didn’t.
Set in Belgium, the movie revolves round O’Shea Jackson Jr’s Donnie constructing a European crew to tear off the Antwerp World Diamond Middle. Author-director Christian Gudegast, who returns from the unique movie, was impressed by a real-life heist that occurred again in 2003. He does a pleasant job making this a extra grounded heist movie than standard, with him avoiding the over-the-top components one would possibly anticipate within the wake of the Quick Saga, to which this has a number of similarities, most notably how Gerard Butler’s character figures into the plot.
Within the first movie, Butler’s Nick O’Brien was such a comically over-the-top, hyper-macho protagonist that the film was arduous to take significantly, with him coming off as nearly cartoonish. But, within the sequel, they present that his behaviour had some actual penalties, with it costing him his job and his household, together with his spouse submitting for divorce and taking the children. Thus, the film has him throw in his lot with Donnie and his gang, opting to assist them pull off their heist for a minimize that may set him up for all times.
Now, Den of Thieves: Pantera isn’t excellent, with the most important flaw within the film being how shortly Jackson’s Donnie buys Nick’s story and cuts him into the gang. He’s imagined to be a genius-level mastermind, so it’s arduous to swallow him taking Nick at his phrase, contemplating how few scruples his former antagonist had within the first movie. But, it does give Butler and Jackson the possibility to construct some buddy film chemistry, which, coupled with the Euro-locale, helps make the sequel much more enjoyable than the unique.
In recent times, Butler’s excelled in making mid-level motion movies, together with his world-weary characters much less glamourous and extra plausible than many different motion heroes of observe. In a Butler film, he received’t at all times have the higher hand on all of the unhealthy guys, and regardless of now being a criminal, he’s oddly extra sympathetic than he was within the first movie. He’s a man who’s coping with the implications of his selections, and Butler performs him with simply the correct amount of machismo and humour. By comparability, Jackson has much less to work with however appears to be having a ball in his buddy scenes with Butler and is convincing because the “brains” behind the heists, with him soft-spoken and cerebral in comparison with the ultra-testosterone-fueled Nick.
Whereas, similar to the unique, Den of Thieves 2 is simply too lengthy (working over 140 minutes), the pacing is tighter, thanks principally to the truth that it’s way more targeted than the unique movie. In Den of Thieves, Gudegast, in making an attempt to pay homage to Mann, spent an excessive amount of time on too many uninteresting facet characters to offer them pathos. He doesn’t get caught in that entice right here, with Butler and/or Jackson not often offscreen. All of it builds as much as a climactic heist sequence that’s punctuated by a nifty automobile chase/ shootout that’s very well-executed, even when the film ends on a observe that almost all motion connoisseurs most likely have already got discovered simply primarily based on the trailers.
All mentioned, I loved Den of Thieves: Pantera way more than I believed I might. With the sunny European locales and worldwide flavour, it’s the right mid-level January launch and will show well-liked sufficient amongst Butler’s followers that I wouldn’t be shocked if we finally get a 3rd film within the sequence. It’s surprisingly enjoyable!
