Review by
Eric Hillis
Directed by: Christian Gudegast
Starring: Gerard Butler, O'Shea Jackson Jr, Evin
Ahmad, Salvatore Esposito, Orli Shuka, Nazmiye Oral
2018's cops and robbers action thriller Den of Thieves proved a surprise hit, likely because it appealed to an
under-served audience desperate for the sort of old-fashioned,
uncomplicated movie you could watch with your dad. First time
filmmaker Christian Gudegast mixed the grittiness of '70s
crime thrillers with the over-the-top action of the '80s, and the end
result was Heat for dummies. Little of the plot made much sense, and Gudegast's
staging of action paled in comparison to the greats of the past he was
aping (Siegel, Hill, Mann et al), but the movie was bags of fun, thanks
largely to a career best performance from Gerard Butler as the most maverick of maverick cops.
Butler played "Big Nick" O'Brien, a grizzled LASD detective who looked
permanently on the verge of a stroke. Nick led a team of cops who liked to
think of themselves as outlaws, but they faced off against real criminals
in a crew of dangerous thieves comprised of ex-special forces soldiers.
The movie climaxed with a twist that revealed that the real mastermind was
Donnie (O'Shea Jackson Jnr), a quiet getaway driver who played Nick
and the gangsters against one another, walking away with millions in the
process.
Taking its cues from French Connection II and The Italian Job, Den of Thieves 2: Pantera relocates its action from Long Beach to the French Riviera, where
Donnie is now involved with a new crew of Albanian mobsters led by the
sexy Jovanna (Evin Ahmad). Their target is a vault within the World Diamond Center in Nice. The first movie opened with a set-piece
in which a security van was stolen to later be used as a prop in the
main heist, and the sequel does something similar, with Donnie stealing
a diamond, which he will use to gain entry to the vault. When Nick
tracks Donnie down in France, he surprises him by refusing to hand him
over to the local authorities. Instead, Nick wants in on the job,
finally crossing the thin line he had previously tread between law and
criminality.
The first movie was a classic cat and mouse narrative, with Big Nick
and his criminal adversary Merrimen (Pablo Schreiber, sorely missed here) constantly butting heads as their
egos went to war. This sequel is more of a buddy movie, with Nick and
Donnie forming an uneasy alliance. The trouble is that it's an
imbalanced double act, with Butler very much the star and Jackson
playing second fiddle. It evokes the likes of 48 Hrs, but Butler is playing both the Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy roles,
with Jackson floundering in the background. The relationship between
Nick and Donnie is nowhere near as abrasive as it needs to be for this
sort of dynamic to produce sparks; they become buddies far too early.
Similarly, the early sexual tension between Nick and Jovanna ultimately
goes nowhere as the movie instead leans into its bros-before-hos
philosophy.
The central heist here is nowhere near as interesting to watch unfold
as that of the first movie, and it verges on Mission: Impossible with its use of sci-fi tech. But perhaps the biggest problem with
this sequel is that it's a cat and mouse thriller that's all mouse and
no cat. Unlike the first movie, there's no clear antagonist here. Donnie
is in trouble with the Italian Mafia for stealing the diamond without
realising it was in their possession, and Nick pisses off a couple of
Albanians who quit the crew over his flirtation with Jovanna, but both
those parties linger in the background rather than playing an explicit
role. There isn't really anything stopping Nick from simply walking away
if things get too heated, which kills much of the potential
tension.
What this sequel does have to recommend it is another fiercely
entertaining performance from Butler in a parodic portrayal of the
classic burnt out cops of classic '70s and '80s thrillers. Much of the
fun comes from seeing this big American oaf bumbling around the
sophisticated setting of the French Riviera like Gene Hackman's Popeye
Doyle in French Connection II. Butler's Big Nick is a bull in a china shop force of nature; it's
just a shame the movie can't fashion Jackson's Donnie into a suitable
sparring partner.
Den of Thieves 2: Pantera is
on Prime Video UK from April 25th.
