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USA | Canada | Spain 2025
Opening January 16, 2025

Directed by: Christian Gudegast
Writing credits: Christian Gudegast
Principal actors: Gerard Butler, O'Shea Jackson Jr., Evin Ahmad, Salvatore Esposito, Meadow Williams, Swen Temmel

Nothing is as it seems, or is it?

LA County Sheriff’s special unit’s rogue lead detective “Big Nick” O'Brien (Gerard Butler), tired of always being the hunter and poor, so he says, decides to check out the always-up-to-no-good Donnie Wilson, a.k.a. J.J. (O'Shea Jackson Jr.). Particularly since he is in Paris. Meanwhile J.J.’s busy setting up a new sting of gargantuan proportions and has the goods to prove himself /his cover. Everything comes together when Jovanna, a.k.a. Cleopatra (Evin Ahmad) gets involved. The team is small: Milan (Swen Temmel), Volko (Dino Kelly), Slavko (Salvatore Esposito), and Mirinko (Velibor Topic). They are not happy having J.J. included, yet grudgingly accept it. Concurrently the Panther mafia, discovering a breach, are working overtime to find what is missing. Once Nick gets J.J.’s attention, Nick’s gambit pays off. Everything in development is down to the minute with Nick assigned a “cover role” that is amazingly apropos. The pressure mounts as, like moves on a chessboard, people and pieces shift into place to take the King—in this case, the National Bank of Diamonds, i.e., the diamond exchange. Housed in a fortress-like building in an arrondissement crawling with police and security cameras, la directrice (Meadow Williams) and the concierge (Stéphane Coulon) proudly inform the new client its reputation is stellar, i.e., never been robbed. Yet. Tension builds, ping ponging from stealthy maneuvering to an all-out spectacle of breath-catching exploits. The Panther mafia’s leads accumulate; they run a blockade. Not quite the game intended, is it check or checkmate?

Writer-director Christian Gudegast’s Den of Thieves 2: Pantera, a direct sequel to his Den of Thieves (2018) about a heist at the US Federal Reserve Bank, could easily be described as guys being guys on steroids—with some humor. This heist’s fast-paced action whips between European countries; stay alert to the storyline thread that is tightly, tautly written, multi-layered, and yet compact. Production values are solid, especially the high-propane car chases, shoot-outs and a fraudulent balancing act: Terry Stacey, cinematography; Roberth Nordh, editing; Kevin Matley, music. By the time the game is over, and the board is cleared it is evident nothing was, and everything is as it seems. 120 minutes (Marinell H.)