IIt’s an odd choice to make a sequel to the 2018 heist film “Den of Thieves” in 2025. The first film grossed less than $50 million at the domestic box office and, to my knowledge, did not truly worshipful. I didn’t see this movie at the time, but I saw it on Max to prepare for the sequel – and I wasn’t impressed.
There was competent action, but the story and characters were neither original nor engaging. I would have given it a C-minus. It seems unlikely that a film this bland would get a sequel, much less one that will be released in theaters and not released on streaming or video on demand. As far as I know that was the plan, then a studio exec noticed that there were no wide releases planned for the weekend before last, so they just added this that they had.
The tactic worked. The film took the top spot in the fourth weekend from “Mufasa,” but it’s not a film I could see succeeding by any means other than lack of competition.
Gerard Butler returns as Los Angeles detective Nick O’Brien, still in pursuit of the elusive Donnie Wilson (O’Shea Jackson Jr.). Donnie and his crew stole $30 million from the Federal Reserve in the first film, in a job that cost the lives of police officers and criminals, while Donnie himself got away with it unharmed.
Nick seems more concerned with avenging his own humiliation than any fallen comrade. Whatever his motivations, he follows Donnie to France, where he and another crew are about to trash the World Diamond Center. Nick could well stop Donnie, but he plays another role: participating in the heist himself.
What follows is your standard heist movie protocol: Nick gains the trust of the Pantera team led by Jovanna (Evin Ahmad), kicks out those who don’t trust him, forms light bonds with Donnie and the loyal members of the team, manipulates WDC technology and personnel, and gets on the wrong side of the local mafia for an inevitable third act twist. Then there’s the heist itself, which is so smooth that the film barely remembers a few wrinkles to keep viewers from falling asleep.
The clocks are ticking. The cars are moving. It’s never really a question of whether or not the crew can escape the safety of the WDC. The suspense comes from wondering who will betray who and what the violence will be. The film is rated R and the first film was quite violent, so things could get complicated.
Like the first film, this one just doesn’t have much impact. Neither film ever rises above “Fast & Furious” knock-off status. This film admirably attempts to give some much-needed depth to the characters of Butler and Jackson, and the acting is fine, but even with the fleshing out, these characters are completely standard for a film like this.
A third film is widely teased, and I wouldn’t exactly say no to spending more time with the surviving characters, but the studio is going to have to find another desert weekend if they want me to be excited. And cutting one of these films down to less than two hours certainly wouldn’t hurt.
After seeing “Den of Thieves 2: Pantera,” my friends asked me if I liked it. When I told them no, they all asked a variation on the question: “So it doesn’t live up to the original?” » No, the original was too disposable. This one is only slightly disposable.
I can see the game is slightly improved. It’s not to the point where I’m giving it a recommendation, but for a sequel to a film that was easy to dismiss seven years ago, it’s surprisingly difficult to dismiss now.