pt 2

PANTERA

Review

 The hook of bad guys having some kind of code of honor and good guys breaking all the rules and protocols to capture them has been prominent in many American films, harking back to even the earlier Warner bros films. A premise that is so American that I was actually surprised this sequel takes place in Europe. Den of Thieves and its sequel Den of Thieves pt 2 Pantera are for me actually enticing when the main focus isn’t the crime or the planning of the crime or even the execution of the crime, but to see the consequence of going against the ethics of the side you are on. Den of Thieves movies mostly want to demonstrate to its audience that there is very little difference, and a whole lot of similarities between the cops and robbers, and they may be right about that.

Gerald Butler returns as Big Nick O’Brien playing a cop that is a mixture of John McClain from Die Hard and Martin Riggs from Lethal Weapon. A man that I felt who would have a heart attack at any moment in the film. He is countered by  O’shea Jackson Jr. playing Donnie Wilson, a cop gone to the bad guys. For what the script offers them I think they are great with but the person I think is the entire supporting cast are more memorable and interesting then Big Nick and Donnie and what they are doing. The core of the story involves a robbery of diamonds in an impossible place to break in, another prominent feature in American crime stories. 

Den of Thieves pt 2. Pantera opens up with narration talking about how the streets are tough and will eat you up while we watch an airplane land on the runway and that is a great metaphor to the film.  A wild mixture that doesn’t blend well together. A film that you can see was inspired by the Mission Impossible franchise, Lethal Weapon films, and Michael Mann’s Heat.  

For me the most compelling event of the film is the whole robbery and it is done really well. So well it is obviously the main drive for having this sequel. Den of Thieves pt 2 works well when it’s telling  how it impacts people on both sides of the laws maintaining this lifestyle and how it’s difficult to leave it. How difficult it is not to be a robber anymore or difficult not to be a cop anymore. The uneven editing and complete rudderless of story makes feel that if they just stuck with the hook of the bad guys being good and good being bad it would be maybe good enough to validate another sequel.