Criminal Squad: Pantera

After watching the original, I eagerly expected to see more of what I enjoyed: characters with some depth that have chemistry, equal screen time with the heroes and villains, dialogue that pops with energy, story beats that feel authentic: Ultimately, a fun heist movie. A warm homemade meal.

What I got was the Tuesday cafeteria special: a scoop of leftover mashed potatoes, and it landed right in the lima beans. It's food, but I didn't love eating it.

Credit where it's due, Den 2 is shot well and sounds great. Better than the first. Some nifty heist hijinks were clever.

But the lazy writing, plot conveniences, flat characters, meaningless subplots, insufferable music score (near the end), and shoddy pacing sully much of the positives.

The first Den displayed constant tension as the cops brushed shoulders with the crooks in everyday situations, suspicion ever present. Here, there's hardly any friction, and when it's there, it's contrived.

And at the end of the day, I'd rather watch Ghost Protocol or Italian Job than a shallow, underwhelming imitation.

Story ~ 6 ⭐ Unfortunately, the story was not fully developed. It felt lackluster. Just, maaaah. It had all the ingredients of an acceptable script, but it lacked high stakes. There was not nearly enough pressure put on the two leads. It had a great hook at the beginning, but then it dragged on trying to build character or story or ... so there it is, it just tried and never succeeded at being special. There is one scene where the film focuses on backstory and character. Just one, all jammed into one. It's noticeable.

Acting ~ 6 ⭐ Gerard is a long way off from Sparta here. His performance wasn't moving; it lacked emotion and nuance. The 2nd lead, O'Shea Jackson Jr., well how can I put this nicely ... was not as good as Gerard. There was no chemistry between the leads. It just was not there. They tried to add a romance sub-plot but that failed too. Enough said.

Cinematography ~ 8 ⭐ The cinematography was saved by the sweeping drone shots and the chase scene. It was good but not great. I think I'm being generous here. The landscape where this film was shot is breathtaking. They were smart to spend a lot of money on drone work. It's a pretty film, but nothing spectacular.

Some Commentary I was excited to see this movie, mainly because of the trailer-it's got a killer trailer. While in the theater, I kept hope, saying to myself, okay now it is going to ramp up and change for the better, but it plateaued and never did. The gravy never thickened.

There's a formula in Hollywood that big studios use. It goes something like (Name Actors + cool stunts + marketing = box office). There are of course numbers and multiples attached to this equation. This movie felt like it was plugged into the equation and shown to be profitable, then green-lit.

My Advice Wait and see it on Prime Video. It's still fun, but not theater fun. Or, go watch it and let me know in the comments if you agree or disagree. Until next time.

This film isn't nearly as action packed as the first. Most of the movie is dialogue, and there's very little action that's reserved for the end of the film. But the story helps add to the story of the first film. There's a fun relationship between Nick and Donnie that helps this film stand on its own, and there's arguably more humor this time around. Both films have a lot to offer, just in different ways.

There are some confusing story elements this time around, interesting characters are introduced that don't seem to contribute to the story at all, and the climax you keep waiting for never comes. This movie is all about story, but it doesn't need as much action to still be entertaining.

Den of Thieves: Pantera follows up Den of Thieves from 2018 but is not in the same league. It feels formulaic all the way though and a little forced. Not an awful movie but below the standard set by the original.

Gerard Butler returns and looks even less in shape with every passing movie, and this one seems to deal with this fact by giving his character food to shout past in almost every scene which gets a tad annoying.

This time the action takes place mainly in Nice, France with an attempt to steal diamonds. Set pieces are adequate but as mentioned the acting feels a little forced and the whole movie is not as satisfying as the original and the runtime too long.

Worth a watch and under another title would have been adequate but not of the same quality as the first movie unfortunately.

There is good and bad with this film, even as it feels like it is missing some of the magic of the first.

The cinematography, sound, and music are great. The film looks and sounds slick and flows well.

The story has some complexity to it as it involves more than just a set of good guys and a set of bad guys. It also follows the first film plot-wise, so having seen it will add to the experience.

At a few points in the story it would be better to not ask too many questions, as there are some plot conveniences that might be considered questionable for the validity and believability of a major international organized crime scenario. Some of the foundational premises of how characters are placed into the story are also tenuous.

The highlight for me though, was the heist execution and the subsequent chase. A long and gripping sequence of events that takes up much of the last half of the film. Superb sequences with sustained tension and realism. Really well directed and scored. And a very cool helicopter intervention.

The acting overall I would call very so-so. Often poor. The improvisation obvious. The casting, generally terrible. Adsurdly so. Aside from the two lead actors, I found the rest of the characters and cast playing them to be both unattractive and instantly forgettable. I never knew that French women had such large noses. Even the star of the film, and really the only one more or less acting in it, looks so haggard as to be a bit of a let down. The co-star was unconvincing generally in his role; he did not fit the part.

I think that this is what differentiates the feel of this film from the first. The first film had tight bands of opposing forces with strong main protagonist and antagonist characters. It also had believable and well-defined entourage characters played by actors who could act. The intensity felt genuine. This film sorely lacks all of this. It went full Euro and feels sloppy because of it. Casting was over-the-top diverse to the point of distraction, resulting in a lack of cohesion, with too many weak characters with no charisma that only made the plot contrivances more obvious.

Overall, still a good watch for fans of the first film.