'Den of Thieves 2: Pantera' Review Thread

I will continue to update this post as reviews come in.

Rotten Tomatoes: Rotten

Critics Consensus: Pantera trades the original Den of Thieves' self-seriousness for a more winking lightheartedness that doesn't entirely smooth over its familiarity but ought to satisfy those hankering for absolute Dad Cinema.

Metacritic: 59 (22 Reviews)

Sample Reviews:

Owen Gleiberman, Variety - Gudegast, for all his casualness toward plausibility, is an energizing filmmaker. He keeps the mano-a-mano standoffs humming, and he’s got a sixth sense for how to showcase Butler.

Robert Daniels, New York Times - “Den of Thieves 2: Pantera” isn’t groundbreaking, but it delivers what it promises: lovable scoundrels trading bullets and traversing borders.

Barry Hertz, Globe and Mail - In the entire oeuvre of cinema du Gerard Butler, there has never been such a perfect marriage between actor and character, man and moniker. Big Nick might not understand a lick of French, but Butler is simply parfait.

Charles Bramesco, Guardian - The film’s chief virtues -- elegant and spatially coherent camera choreography, Butler getting his groove on as Big Nick gets his back, the furtive intimacies shared by alpha males -- are timeless. 4/5

David Fear, Rolling Stone - Gudegast isn’t interested in mounting a copy of a copy. But a lot of the pleasure of watching the filmmaker and his cast do their exquisite cover version is gone, replaced only by some clumsy buddy-comedy elements and a lot of action-movie hot air.

Tim Grierson, Screen International - Editor Roberth Nordh and composer Kevin Matley do solid, competent work, but Pantera does not possess its predecessors’ B-movie ingenuity or ability to transform a familiar narrative into something lean and mean.

Christian Zilko, indieWire - Just like the inexhaustibly creative thieves that inhabit its eponymous den, Christian Gudegast’s sequel defies all odds en route to becoming one of the most entertaining new releases of the first 240 hours of 2025. B

Matt Schimkowitz, AV Club - The movie lives and dies by the chemistry between Butler and Jackson, coasting a bit on Butler’s dirtbag charisma to get him on the audience’s side. B-

Nick Schager, The Daily Beast - [Gudegast] infuses his inspired-by-real-events tale with the muscularity of its metal-titan namesake, all while pivoting everything around the grungy, rugged charisma of his star.

Paul Attard, Slant Magazine - Pantera feels far more anonymous, sleeker and less outlandish, than its predecessor. 2/4

Brian Tallerico, RogerEbert.com - A film granular with details about one massive criminal undertaking, elevated by a pair of charismatic leading men in one of the most beautiful places in the world. 3/4

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 2: 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.

CAST:

• Gerard Butler as Nicholas "Big Nick" O'Brien
• O'Shea Jackson Jr. as Donnie Wilson
• Evin Ahmad as Jovanna
• Salvatore Esposito as Slavko
• Meadow Williams as Holly
• Swen Temmel as Milan Lovren

DIRECTED BY: Christian Gudegast

WRITTEN BY: Christian Gudegast

BASED ON CHARACTERS CREATED BY: Christian Gudegast, Paul Scheuring

PRODUCED BY: Tucker Tooley, Gerard Butler, Alan Siegel, Mark Canton

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Greg Renker, Gregoire Gensollen, Christian Parent, Marc Schaberg, Zev Foreman, Jen Gorton, Christian Gudegast, O'Shea Jackson Jr., Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, Meadow Williams, Swen Temmel, Philip Waley, Glenn D. Feig

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Terry Stacey

PRODUCTION DESIGNER: Sébastien Inizan

EDITED BY: Roberth Nordh

COSTUME DESIGNER: Cristina Sopeña

MUSIC BY: Kevin Matley

CASTING BY: Cristina Sopeña

RUNTIME: 144 Minutes

RELEASE DATE: January 10, 2025