In a unique cinematic trend, Gerard Butler appears to dominate the first month of each year much as Will Smith once ruled Memorial Day and “Meg” films take over August. While it might seem like a hollow triumph considering his B-movie action thrillers are currently shaping the quiet, low-attendance movie landscape during winter, at least he’s the undisputed ruler of something. Butler’s rugged, intense, and imposing screen presence has retained its charm over time, making even pulp movies feel almost like genuine cinematic productions.
As a passionate movie enthusiast, I must say that for a large portion of its 2 hours and 24 minutes, “Den of Thieves 2: Pantera” delivers an impressive imitation of a top-notch crime flick. For anyone curious about what makes Butler such a powerful force in the genre, just watch him light up a cigarette – it’s like he’s drawing the smoke directly into his essence. In “Den of Thieves 2,” Butler reprises his role as “Big Nick” O’Brien, a Los Angeles cop who’s hanging by a thread. A fresh crew of robbers, these Balkan thugs with tangled accents, have emerged, and once again, O’Shea Jackson Jr. is there as Donnie Wilson, who in the first “Den of Thieves” turned out to be the film’s criminal mastermind.
After successfully pilfering a pile of soon-to-be destroyed banknotes from the Federal Reserve, Donnie eluded capture by fleeing to Antwerp. It is here that he teams up with Jovanna (Evin Ahmad), who heads a group of thieves called the Panthers. Interestingly, the police task force hunting them down uses the code name ‘Pantera’. The movie begins with the Panthers, masquerading as SWAT team members, swiping a haul of diamonds from an aircraft that had arrived from South Africa.
In Nice, I’ll be presenting myself as affluent diamond enthusiasts alongside my partner, Donnie and Jovanna. Our initial goal will be to subtly fence the stolen diamonds at the World Diamond Center, a robust fortress reminiscent of a Swiss bank for precious stones. This impregnable citadel is guarded like a castle, with a formidable squad of security personnel and 137 cameras monitoring every move.
However, our true objective lies beneath this seemingly straightforward plan. Once we’ve established ourselves within the Center, we’ll execute our real scheme: infiltrating the World Diamond Center’s inner vault.
This job is on par with the complexity of an Ocean’s heist. Donnie, portrayed by Jackson with a refined, international air of sophistication, has an unexpected partner coming his way – it’s Nick. Nick has been tracking down Donnie and wants to join forces. He presents his recently divorced, disheartened cop life as a tragic backstory to gain entry into the gang. However, in truth, Nick seeks revenge on Donnie by setting him up. The plot of “Den of Thieves 2” is a twisty tale that combines a heist within a con, making Nick and Donnie both foes and allies. Who wouldn’t be excited to see how this unfolds?
In a casual and understandable manner:
Nick, flashing an expired international marshal’s badge (no one seems to mind), has secretly teamed up with Belgian police chief Hugo (Yasen Zates Atour). This partnership allows him to roam the Antwerp police station, mispronouncing “croissant” and acting in typical rough, arrogant American fashion. He behaves similarly when infiltrating criminal groups, and it’s entertaining to watch Butler mock these European tough guys or get high on marijuana at dance parties.
Initially, Christian Gudegast’s debut of “Den of Thieves” mirrored the style of a Michael Mann production (think an excessively heated version of “Heat”). However, the film eventually fell prey to increasingly implausible storylines. In contrast, “Den of Thieves 2” presents a more coherent narrative flow, with a plot that traverses various European cities and introduces a subplot involving Sardinian mobsters who had a valuable pink gem stolen during an air heist. As a warning, the mobsters throw Nick and Donnie into the sea, hinting at the consequences if they fail to recover it.
The heist depicted is audacious, entertaining, yet hard to swallow (and this somewhat dampened the enjoyment for me). The Panthers discover that most of the surveillance footage isn’t constantly displayed on the guards’ monitors; instead, they hack the system to find out which images become visible at different times. However, the idea that they could synchronize all these actions with their exact location within the fortress at any given moment – whether in hallways, elevator shafts, or the vault – seems implausible. While watching “Den of Thieves 2,” it feels more like you’re drugging your disbelief for approximately 25 minutes rather than suspending it.
Despite his disregard for plausibility, Gudegast is an invigorating director. He skillfully maintains the intensity of hand-to-hand confrontations and has a knack for portraying Butler as a stylishly unkempt, gritty blend of Dirty Harry, Popeye Doyle, and Lethal Weapon’s lone wolf character. With a career spanning two decades, Butler has battled various political terrorists in the Fallen series, tackled issues like ecological catastrophes, Russian kidnappings, and anti-colonial insurgencies. However, it is the Den of Thieves franchise that could become his most enduring legacy. These films offer a unique blend of familiarity and novelty: they are heist movies with a lethal twist.
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2025-01-10 05:17