A View From the Couch: Den of Thieves 2 is Better than Expected
Rating: 6.5/10
Den of Thieves 2: Pantera makes a highly compelling case for a third installment to this film franchise if only to catch one more glimpse of the breathtaking Jovanna (Evin Ahmad), who was the real star of the show here.
In the very first act of this film, Jovanna is introduced to us as the leader of the Panther Crew, which has established itself as a highly efficient and effective heist operation.
Critically, Jovanna is trusted by the outfit she has assembled, and more importantly, she trusts them. No criminal outfit, either in the fictional or real world, has ever thrived when there is a trust deficit.
Jovanna’s instincts serve her well for most of this film, where she recognizes who her most important assets are, and demonstrates she is prepared to sever any relations that threaten the operation.
Ahmad was a perfect cast for this film, and her performance was a tremendous highlight, giving it the weight that it needed.
Her two latest recruits to the Panthers Crew are Donnie Wilson (O’Shea Jackson) and Big Nick (Gerard Butler), both of whom reprised their roles from the first film.
Wilson proves his value to the group, by spearheading a daring airport heist in Antwerp, while Butler cuts his teeth during the most daring heist of them all — a robbery of the main vault at the World Diamond Center in Nice.
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Donnie and Nick successfully infiltrate what is a highly secure facility, laying the foundations for the heist, meeting the approval of Jovanna and the rest of the Panthers Crew.
However, there are other dynamics involved here that put sufficient meat on the bare bones of this film.
The Sicilian Mafia is dragged into the plot when it emerges they were the victims of the Antwerp heist, two of the original Panthers go rogue after Jovanna rightly cuts them off, and Big Nick secretly cooperates with French law enforcement while working with the Panther Crew, primarily to address some unfinished business he has with Donnie.
But as Big Nick becomes increasingly involved with the tight-knit Panther Crew he loses some clarity on his sense of right and wrong, perhaps because he discovers a new sense of belonging among this group — a sense of loyalty he is no longer familiar with in law enforcement, or indeed at home.
In the film, Nick has just been suspended from his job, while he navigates his way through a messy and frustrating divorce. The Panther Crew helps fill both of those voids, although, in the end, even that isn’t enough to guarantee total loyalty.
While Big Nick does go on to betray the crew in the end, he is at least conflicted by the outcome.
He also takes solace from the fact that the arrested crew soon breaks out of confinement with the help of a Sicilian Mafia that is impressed by the Panther operation — an operation that Big Nick was an important part of.
A compelling feature of this film is all the moving parts that contribute to a more intriguing plot, which is a lot less reliant on high-octane and relentless action.
While it is not complicated or particularly mysterious, it does help keep you engaged for the film’s full running time, which actually flies by.
Director Christian Gudegast has something to work with here, especially now that the Sicilians are involved.
And while Den of Thieves was largely satisfactory, Gudegast has a duty to produce an even more intricate script in the next installment — an installment that most will look forward to after watching this.
