DEN OF THIEVES 2: PANTERA (2025)

Genre: Crime/Action
Director: Christian Gudegast
Cast: Gerard Butler, O’Shea Jackson Jr, Evin Ahmad, Salvatore Esposito, Orli Shuka, Cristian Solimeno, Nazmiye Oral 
Runtime: 2 hrs 10 mins
Rating: M18 (Coarse Language and Some Drug Use)
Released By: Golden Village and Encore Films
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 9 January 2025

Synopsis: Gerard Butler (Plane, Has Fallen series) and O’Shea Jackson Jr. (Straight Out of Compton, Godzilla: King of the Monsters) return in the sequel to 2018’s action-heist hit Den of Thieves. In DEN OF THIEVES: PANTERA, Big Nick (Butler) is back on the hunt in Europe and closing in on Donnie (Jackson), who is embroiled in the treacherous and unpredictable world of diamond thieves and the infamous Panther mafia, as they plot a massive heist of the world’s largest diamond exchange.

Movie Review:

Few were expecting a sequel to Gerard Butler’s 2018 cops-versus-robbers thriller, but then again the same could have been said of Butler’s ‘… has Fallen’ series, and after likewise becoming a modest hit, Butler and Shea O’ Jackson have decided to give their respective characters another go-around, reprising their roles as Los Angeles sheriff Big Nick and expert thief Donnie Wilson respectively.

Those who love its predecessor for its meat-and-potatoes B-movie thrills might recall that Nick found himself outsmarted by Donnie at the end of that movie, when the latter revealed himself to be the mastermind behind the Federal Reserve robbery (instead of just being Nick’s informant). After that humiliation, we catch up with Nick as a down-and-out lawman whose sense of invincibility and pride has been inexorably pierced by Nick’s actions. Unable to put things down, Nick decides to go rogue in pursuit of Donnie, especially after his superiors decide against the risk of exposing the fact that the Federal Reserve was robbed in the first place.

On the other hand, emboldened by his triumph, Donnie now works for hire as a master planner for other robberies in Europe – and the opening scene sees him execute a well-orchestrated theft of a cache of rare diamonds at Antwerp airport from a jet that had just flown in from South Africa. That theft also triggers the Sicilian mafia after Donnie, whose presence will become significant late into the movie. Suspecting that Donnie is behind the Antwerp robbery, Nick sets off on his own to go after Donnie.

To his credit, writer-director Christian Gudegast does not simply rehash the formula of the previous movie; instead, with the change of scenery, Gudegast goes with a change of pace and style, such that the sequel feels more like a Euro-thriller than it does a typical shoot-em-up action movie. Rather than go in guns ablazing, Nick offers to join Nick in his next criminal enterprise – that is, to rob the impenetrable World Diamond Centre. Oh yes, Nick and Donnie become crew, alongside a French thief named Jovanna (Evin Ahmad) and a Serbian crook named Slavko (Gomorrah’s Salvatore Esposito).

Has Nick indeed decided to give up his law enforcement credentials, or is it simply a front to reel in Donnie? Indeed, Donnie is at first highly suspicious of Nick’s intentions, although over the course of the movie, the pair will strike up a buddy dynamic that goes deeper than you’d probably imagine. We won’t spoil the surprise for you, but suffice to say that Nick is as loyal a member of Donnie’s crew as any other partner, and ends up saving both their lives in a thrilling getaway car chase through the mountains.

It is a pretty satisfying slow-boil we must say, built on a surprisingly engaging back-and-forth between Nick and Donnie as well as meticulous planning and execution of the piece de resistance (i.e. the WDC heist). There is palpable tension in the staging of the heist itself, which we see unfold with clockwork precision and nail-biting tension. Kudos to Gudegast for not overdoing the theatrics, emphasising instead on the importance of homework, ingenuity and plain luck as the titular den of thieves penetrate the fortress from the top, work their way down the elevator shaft, and past the myriad of security cameras within the building to get to the vault.

Like we said, this is not the shoot-em-up some might be expecting, but it is a refreshing change of pace and style that sets the sequel apart from its predecessor. It also allows us to bask in the easy chemistry that Butler and his co-star O’Jackson share, not only because they are more familiar with their roles the second time around, but also because it allows us to probe their motivations, such that the twist at the end is well-deserved (even if it does seem intentional to set up another sequel and turn ‘Den’ into yet another franchise for Butler).

So even though few were expecting a sequel, ‘Den of Thieves 2: Pantera’ is an unexpectedly satisfying watch that offers some solid character work between Butler and O’Jackson, as well as a series of slick set-pieces that are an equal mix of brains and brawn. And for fans of the 55-year-old Scottish actor, it offers a welcome change for the action star who will soon need to rely more on his wit and less on his muscles to get the job done.

Movie Rating:

(Not quite the shoot-em-up its predecessor was, this sequel trades firepower for wit, ingenuity and good old buddy dynamics for a less showy but surprisingly satisfying Euro-thriller)

Review by Gabriel Chong