PREMISE
Big Nick is back on the hunt in Europe and closing in on Donnie, who is in the world of diamond thieves and the infamous Panther mafia, as they plot a massive heist of the world’s largest diamond exchange.
THE GOOD STUFF
GERARD BUTLER- In the late 2000s, Gerard Butler was about as big a star as you can get. He had a massive push after 300 and did a lot of big studio films. Over time, it seems as if Butler has chosen the Jason Statham path to movie superstardom, starring in what some would call B-level action movies and having his name distinctly identified with action films.
To me, this is not a bad choice, given how many of their action films are of the highest quality. He has had way more overachieving action films during his run, and DEN OF THIEVES: PANTERA is no different. People tend to forget that even though he’s doing films like this on the regular, he is an actor who really brings a lot of gravitas to simplistic material. He’s a wonderful type of action every man.
There isn’t much to speak of the character he plays here. A lot of him is already known because of the first movie, but that isn’t the point. Butler is so fun to watch when the movies are well done and not made just to give him a paycheck. His performance here is quite good, and his chemistry with O’Shea Jackson Jr is nothing to sneeze at.
THE SET PIECES- When I really think about it, heist sequences in big-budget movies are rarely done poorly. But some elements are annoying to them. In some cases, even if the heist sequence themselves are done very well, the build-up to it is done poorly, or we don’t see the effect of the heist itself, or other cinematic elements during the actual heist sequence become annoying. This is not the case here. The big heist sequence in this film here is built up expertly and is extremely intense. I love the fact that the whole heist is shown without the score of the film hitting you over the head, trying to make things more suspenseful. Silence is so much more intense than an orchestra when it comes to certain scenes.
The climactic car chase at the end of this film plays very well in a large-format theater. It’s loud, stylish, and a very well-done scene in a glamorous action film (shockingly, it only cost $40 million to make).
THE TWIST- Of course, I won’t spoil the twist here, but I will say this. You do not see it coming. And if you guess what the twist is, it will be a wild guess. This is a film that keeps some aspects of the story completely unseen and unheard, just so the twist can hit you in the face at the end of the film. It effectively does this because even though the scenes that can explain why the twist happens are unseen, the story is so well told up until that point that you can piece things together and make sense based on what YOU HAVE seen. It’s really well done and doesn’t insult the audience’s intelligence.
THE BAD STUFF
THE PANTHER MAFIA- Throughout the film, there’s a subplot involving a large pink diamond that belongs to the Panther Mafia, which is of minuscule importance to the main story. We keep coming back to this subplot repeatedly, and it seems entirely out of place for it to be so focused on.. until you get to the 3rd act of the film. The payoff to this build-up is so not worth it.
THE UGLY STUFF
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This is a two-and-a-half-hour movie. And to some, that’s going to seem like way too much to invest into a January release, and people get antsy when they see that a movie’s over 2 hours these days. But this movie justifies the runtime because this is a character-driven story, with a well-done heist and action sequences that take some time to flesh out. When it comes to movies such as this one, the interest in preserving a running time often leaves story elements cut out, exposing massive plot holes. Den of thieves: Pantera leaves no stone unturned. Everything is explained and executed in full. We see the full effect of the last movie’s events in the two lead characters, and the story from this movie enhances their dynamic together.
Though this movie doesn’t nearly resemble the 1995 masterpiece heat as much of the first film did, it is still very much an inspiration you can tell it in every single shot. That’s a very good movie to be inspired by. If you like that movie, I cannot imagine you not liking both of the den of thieves movies released so far.Â
DEN OF THIEVES: PANTERA is in theaters now.
