Den of Thieves 2: Pantera: Big Nick (Gerard Butler) is tracking Donnie (O’Shea Jackson Jr.) through Europe, eventually catching up with him in Nice, France. There, Donnie and the Panther Mafia are plotting a seemly outrageous style heist at the city’s World Diamond Center. Nick, broke and tired, is eager to get a piece of the action.
Unlike the first Den of Thieves, this movie takes on a lighter, occasionally humorous tone. Big Nick dials down his badass-itude, though not entirely. The film focuses more on the meticulous planning of the heist than the actual event, reminiscent of the Mission: Impossible and Ocean’s film series.
The movie recreates, with creative license, the 2003 Antwerp Diamond Heist (Antwerp is the actual diamond center of the world), where $100 million in diamonds, gold, and other valuables were stolen. The heist was executed by a five-man team, four of whom were captured and imprisoned, but the loot was never recovered. The ringleader, Leonardo Notarbartolo, received a ten-year prison sentence, while his three captured accomplices were each sentenced to five years.
Trivia: The Panther Mafia in Den of Thieves is likely inspired and named after the real-life Pink Panthers, a network of international jewel thieves responsible for some of the world’s most daring and glamorous heists. The Pink Panthers were given their moniker by European police due to the similarities between their crimes and the antics in The Pink Panther film series. Art imitating reality in an unbroken circle.
Genre: Action—Crime—Drama–Thriller
Directed by: Christian Gudegast
Screenplay by: Christian Gudegast
Music by: Kevin Matley
Cast: Gerard Butler, O’Shea Jackson Jr.
Film Location: Canary Islands and United Kingdom
ElsBob: 7.0/10
IMDb: 6.6/10
Rotten Tomatoes Critics: 60%
Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter: 79%
Metacritic Metascore: 60%
Metacritic User Score: 6.8/10
Theaters: 10 January 2025
Runtime: 145 minutes
Budget: $40 million
Box Office: $21 million
Source: Rotten Tomatoes, IMDb, Metacritic. Graphic: Den of Thieves 2: Pantera Poster and Trailer, copyright Lionsgate.
elsToday 