Den of Thieves 2: Pantera Review

After watching the first one blindly to review for this, I also went into this one having no true idea over what the movie was about. O'shea Jackson Jr and Gerard Butler are the only returning cast members from the original. Their chemistry continues to be off the charts, and their acting performances were pushed up even another level. I will do my best to be as spoiler free as possible since this is a brand new release.

Butler was the star of the show much like the first one. He was much less light hearted and manic in this one. More cunning and cerebral. More dramatic and serious, which really made this movie feel so much more dramatic and intense. His turn into a much more serious man who is still a part of the police system but nowhere near the role he was before made him feel more desperate and violent. Like he truly could've snapped any second, making him incredibly unpredictable and scary in a lot of moments.

But Gerard wasn't the main character in this movie, at least to me. O'shea Jackson Jr returning as Donnie was an absolute star in this. A much more nuanced and charismatic performance from him that felt like a great progression of his character. Not taking him straight from the previous, but also not completely changing him up. It felt careful and realistic in the best way possible.

But aside from them, another stand out performance came from Evin Ahmad. A great showing for her as the over head watcher, keeping everyone safe and helping from a distance. It would have been cool to see her do more physical stuff rather than just monitoring radioes and videos, but it was better than the previous ones that they had. I loved the big Hawaiian man from the first movie, and his presence was missed, but the whole new crew was great. a bunch of very different personalities that created a very unique amount of chemistry between them.

The things that this movie did best were the same as its predecessor. Action and tension.

One thing that's very important that I want to note is that this movie is quite light on action. The only real shoot out of fight scene comes towards the very end. The opening heist as well the main one are so well planned out that they don't need to get violent, which is the best choice they could've made. Donnie was smart and cunning, but he wasn't a killer. Barely a fighter. He planned these out to minimize casualties. It was the greatest possible way to make the sequel stand out. But aside from that, the main heist had the greatest tension I've seen in a while. Actually heart pumping stuff with some amazing music whenever necessary while also doing a great job at being pulled back, completely silent when needed.

I don't really have much more else to say that doesn't get into spoiler territory. While I thought this movie was incredible and up there as some of the top of heist movies out there, it is nowhere near the perfect original. Nothing can ever compete, and this did it's best but just fell short of the mark.

Overall Rating: 8/10

MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD:

The inclusion of the mafia seeming to hunt down Donnie and Nick was a interesting choice. They only really came back in the end in a very important way, but still felt weird.

The only real "villains" of the movie are former crew members coming back for revenge, which was such a unique way to do it. The quick driving shootout on the winding mountain roads was rather fun and exciting, but it was nowhere near as fun as the ones in the first movie. It felt overly smooth and over the top compared to the much more realistic approach to everything else.

The turn from Nick to align with the criminals was such a fun twist on his character and really made Gerard showcase his skills in a great way. But the ultimate twist with it all being a ploy was just expertly done. My favorite part of the movie, as it genuinely did surprise me. Great work from everyone involved. And then ultimately helping inform Donnie of his escape, whether he was responsible for it or not, was fun.

A third instalment does seem somewhat possible given the way it ended. I guess it will depend on box office, and might take a few more years again. I for one hope that it can keep the momentum and doesn't dip too much. These movies have remained so highly realistic and true that I can only really see a new heist or escalation coming by means of more advanced technology, which I am not for. This movie featured an "invisibility" shield and that was as far as it got. It worked and they had a good explanation for it in universe, but I am worried about how far it goes in the future of the franchise. I don't want no sci-fi tech in a digital bank or anything like that.