Gerard Butler returns as “Big Nick”, who is still on the trail of thief Donnie (O’Shea Jackson Jr.). He follows him all the way to Europe where he and a new crew are planning to rob the World Diamond Authority. The surprise is he doesn’t want to bust Donnie. Big Nick wants to join his team and get a piece of the action.
This sequel swaps out money for diamonds and L.A. for Europe. Whereas the inspiration for the original was Heat, this one seems to be a riff on another Robert De Niro actioner, Ronin. (Jackson’s team even uses the word “Ronin” as a call sign during a heist early on in the movie.) There’s also a little bit of an inverse X-Men 2 thing going on where the hero teams up with the villain.
Director Christian Gudegast (who also helmed the original) delivers a slick looking picture, but there’s just not a whole lot going on under its glossy veneer. What’s worse is that it moves slowly and sluggishly. I enjoyed the first movie, even though I felt it was unnecessarily long. This one is even longer, clocking in at a whopping two and a half hours. The set-up for the heist is needlessly meticulous (almost to the point of being OCD) and some of the suspense sequences never quite pop. (One heist scene feels like an extreme version of the schoolyard game, Red Light, Green Light.) Also, the additional character moments don’t really add anything to the mix and only contribute to the film’s already bloated running time.
The big issue though is that Donnie seems to bring Big Nick into his fold way too easily. I guess if he didn’t, we wouldn’t have a movie. That said, you never quite buy Big Nick’s heel turn, which predictably results in his Point Break-style morality crisis later in the film.
With macho bluster to spare, Butler remains entertaining to watch. Whether shaking down crooks or dancing on ecstasy or biting into shawarma, he provides the movie with a shot in the arm whenever it begins to flag. Unfortunately, these brief flashes are the only times when Pantera rocks.
AKA: Criminal Squad 2. AKA: Criminal Squad: Pantera. AKA: Den of Thieves 2: Pantera.
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