Den of Thieves 2: Pantera doesn't strive to go much higher than the bar set by the cat-and-mouse game of its predecessor, nor does it land too far beneath the original Den of Thieves. It’s the very definition of a lateral move, which will likely satisfy the fanbase that has built up around the first face-off between criminal mastermind Donnie Wilson (O’Shea Jackson Jr.) and determined cop “Big Nick” O’Brien (Gerard Butler). That said, it does suffer from the same inflated-runtime problems while taking too long to get to the showcase heist sequence that we really want to see.
Recognizing what worked previously, returning writer/director Christian Gurdegast leans into Butler's endearingly hambone persona, with the increasingly shaggy Scottish actor again breaking out his mush-mouth American accent in service of f-bomb-laden tough-guy talk. New in Pantera is a fun 48 Hours-style buddy dynamic between Butler and Jackson. When O’Brien learns that Wilson and a new criminal crew have taken up residence in France for another potential score, he heads overseas to bring them down, with the Pantera of the title referring to the French task force assigned to assist him. This is where the various intricacies of who's who in the hierarchy of Gallic organized crime threaten to topple over in a sea of rushed foreign dialogue (with no subtitles!) and impenetrable accents.
Like Den of Thieves, Pantera is very much a reflection of its influences, with DNA from Fast & Furious, Donnie Brasco, and The Town in evidence. Unlike the first chapter, which restricted its action to L.A. and garnered an air of grounded authenticity as a result, the sequel is more of a globetrotting affair, which adds a sense of scope but robs this burgeoning franchise of some of its identity. Though props to Gurdegast for making O’Brien the butt of several "Ugly American" jokes as opposed to using his “man's man” persona as a vehicle to constantly dunk on his French colleagues.
It really isn't until about 90 minutes in – when the central heist begins – that things start to hum along in earnest. From that point, Pantera relies on the tried-and-true pleasures of a ticking-clock scenario, with characters having to move quickly to avoid detection by motion sensors, cameras, etc. It's worked wonders for Mission: Impossible series and Ocean's Eleven, and while Pantera isn’t entirely in their league, it still manages to entertain with several last-second escapes as our characters dart the labyrinthine vault.
One complaint about Pantera also applied to the original Den of Thieves: Both movies clock in at roughly 140-ish minutes. Gurdegast may have aspirations for a crime saga in the vein of the similarly lengthy Heat, but these are ultimately pulpy confections at heart, and there isn't enough story to justify the extra-sized frame. Regardless, while the previous film came to a bittersweet conclusion that didn't immediately call out for a continuation, Pantera is very clearly telegraphing another Den down the line. Here's hoping they trim some of the setup in the next one and go straight for the caper.
