With more character to back up its heist movie thrills, Den of Thieves 2 did the trick for me.
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In my experience, a sequel tells you whether or not a movie/premise can become a franchise. Why? Because the sequel is where you can expand your world a bit, dive deeper into your characters, and potentially iron out any complaints folks had about the first one. This is especially the case for action franchises. So, about seven years after the original film, we're back with the Den of Thieves crew to see if they can turn a cult favorite into a franchise. And they might have something here....
The Setup
Still frustrated by the events of the last film, Big Nick O'Brien (Gerard Butler) is desperately searching for the guy who got away, and helped to ruin his career, Donnie Wilson (O'Shea Jackson Jr.). His search brings him to France, where Donnie has paired up with new highly competent partners to complete a brazen heist at a diamond exchange. Only Nick doesn't want to catch Donnie. He wants in on the score.
Den of Thieves 2 did exactly what I wanted it to do. In my re-review of the original movie I noted that the film's biggest weakness was a lack of character depth, especially around Donnie, who the first film revealed as the real mastermind behind the big heist. We get some insight into Nick being an asshole of a husband and violently angry prick, but that's about it. And Donnie...is more or less a mystery until the final frames.
This is why Heat has a stronger reputation in the crime movie genre. It spends a ton of time tracking everyone's motivations from Pacino and DeNiro to the random wheelman that's picked up the day of the heist.
Pantera solves that problem by making a lot of its movie...a male bonding movie between Nick and Donnie. So while the movie is about the same length we get extended segments where Nick and Donnie are bonding by partying together, surviving a terrifying situation and sharing about why they chose their respective lines of work.
Which does the double duty of adding more meat to Donnie's character and softens up Nick who goes from unrepentant asshole into a "jackass, who's also my friend" territory. It also means that whatever happens during the heist further bonds them and carries more weight and further blurs the line between cop and criminal (i.e. look how similar these two are in so many ways).
Which does the double duty of adding more meat to Donnie's character and softens up Nick who goes from unrepentant asshole into a "jackass, who's also my friend" territory. It also means that whatever happens during the heist further bonds them and carries more weight and further blurs the line between cop and criminal (i.e. look how similar these two are in so many ways).
The movie also does a great job of establishing some of its biggest complications in advance. These include some former crew members who are both jealous and bitter towards Donnie and Nick and a mafia link that could get everyone killed. I like this because it means when twist worthy moments happen, it's very easy to put the pieces together.
With that all out of the way, we can enjoy the fun blend of heist movie thrills and tactical firefights from the first film that makes up the majority of the movie's second hour. Admittedly I wish they gave the audience a little bit more information about what they're trying to do and how, but it's better than the first movie in this regard as well.
We see that something they stole early on is their key to getting to their new bigger target and how all of the things that Donnie and Nick have been doing have set the stage for this heist.
And because Nick and Donnie are on the same team now and have been bantering a bit back and forth, this duo getting into a firefight is a straightforward fight between our protagonists and their enemies versus two sets of people we'd both like to stay alive.
Any major complaints?
What I mostly have are nitpicks or a difference in opinion. For instance sound design. Dropping out the soundtrack during the heist, where our thieves are trying to avoid detection of security guards that are in the building at the same time. That makes a lot of sense. Means every noise could lead to the team being discovered and all hell breaking loose. There's tension in that silence.
But later when we're in a combo car chase and firefight and there's still little to no soundtrack? That feels like a missed opportunity. For me, I want each exchange of fire to feel life-threatening and tense and you can amplify that with sound and the soundtrack.
Also not huge on the run of gay jokes Nick keeps making about him and Donnie (i.e. telling Donnie's partners they met on a "gay cruise" and how he keeps calling Donnie Frauelein).
However, as I already said these are nitpicks to what is a solid meat and potatoes heist movie.
The Verdict: An Upgrade
With more character to back up its heist movie thrills, Den of Thieves 2 did the trick for me. 7/10
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