By Nick Nitkowski 

I was not one of the few who partook in seeing the first “Den of Thieves” movie in the theater. In fact, it took me a good long while after its home release before I got around to sitting down and watching it on the small screen. And my initial reaction to the first film was, “Eh. It’s okay. Not very memorable.” Little did I know that my statement would be put to the test because much to my surprise, and perhaps a surprise to others as well, we got a sequel that I don’t recall anyone asking for. And surprise, surprise, I completely forgot the events that happened in the first one. So, in preparation to watch the sequel, I sat down and watched the first “Den of Thieves” movie just to obtain a much-needed refresher. It was every bit as forgettable as I remembered. But with the first film fresh in my mind, I was ready to partake in the two-and-a-half-hour-long sequel, “Den of Thieves 2: Pantera”! So how was this new addition to this new-found franchise?

To further my surprise about this franchise, as I write this review, I see that it is getting better reviews than the first movie. I bring this up first because I personally found this movie to be a boring, basic slog of a heist movie that I had seen done so much better in so many different ways before this one. Granted, the reviews are not glowing reviews singing the movie’s praises, they are below average at best, but they still have a higher number than the first movie. While the first movie is forgettable, it did have some moments sprinkled throughout the film. This film did not have that.

“Den of Thieves 2: Pantera” is about Donnie, played once again by O’Shea Jackson Jr., pulling his biggest heist yet in Europe with a whole new crew. But when L.A. cop Nick, played again by Gerard Butler, tracks him down and catches wind of his plans, he decides that he wants in on the score. I’d usually mention the other characters/actors in this film, but the truth is… I have no idea who they are and their performances in this film were so forgettable that it’s not worth the effort to look them up.

As I had mentioned earlier, this movie is two and a half hours long. And the first two hours are all set up to the heist at the end of the movie. Needless to say, this movie did not need to be two and a half hours long. It could have easily been trimmed down to a solidtwo-hourr maximum runtime and I probably would have perceived it as passable. But because it chose to go the long route, it ended up being a very long, boring, and needlessly drawn-out slog of a film. 

This is why I’m still astounded by the fact that this sequel currently holds a higher rating than its predecessor. The first one was too long for its own good as well. It also clocked in close to the two-and-a-half-hour-long mark. Except the first one had moments sprinkled in throughout the film that made it somewhat more engaging. Still not perfect, but better than this one.

Overall, “Den of Thieves 2: Pantera” was a movie that I never expected to happen and after watching it, I can’t wait to never watch this movie ever again. With a boring storyline and an even more boring execution of said storyline with some subpar acting performances thrown into the mix, I just can’t help but ask myself two questions: “Why?” and “Who thought people wanted this?” I guess we will have to see how it performs at the box office. It’s really the finale that you’re after with this sequel. But it’s such a long journey to get there that it doesn’t seem worth it by the end. While the finale, or the heist, is by far the best part of the whole movie, it still wasn’t perfect. It was somewhat interesting as it was happening, but it was also very soft-spoken. You never really felt the tension of the heist, or at least I didn’t. This really isn’t the best start to the new year. I can only hope it gets better by having this sequel get thrown into the lion’s Den and get eaten alive after stealing my time.

1.5 stars