MartianTom

Okay... time to correct some of the more negative reviews on here. Those that say things like 'bloated', 'overlong', 'too much dialogue, not enough action' and so on. I think a lot of these must come from viewers who are too much a product of the digital age - those who favour instant gratification, who don't want to spend too much time soaking up 'story', who prefer mindless action over engaging their brain a bit.

So, here's a review from someone with a fully-developed frontal lobe, and who loves heist movies (think 'Heat', 'The Town', 'Le Cercle Rouge', the original 'Den of Thieves'), and movies with a long enough play-time to allow you to fully immerse in both characters and story.

Wary of sequels, I admit I approached this with a lot of caution. So few movies have been able to pull it off well. The exceptions for me are 'Sicario: Day of the Soledado', 'Equalizer 2' (though not '3'), 'Aliens' and so on - movies that took familiar characters and situations, then played them to another level. For me, 'Den of Thieves: Pantero' easily falls into the 'exceptions' category. A good and fairly original plot, well-paced... and Big Nick back on full form. Gerard Butler has made some so-so movies - but he really delivers the goods in this franchise, and he doesn't disappoint in this outing.

I would have given it 10 if some of the other characters had been a bit more rounded out. But that was my only criticism. And those almost two-and-a-half hours of play-time didn't drag in the least for me. I enjoyed every minute of the ride.

I won't say any more. No need to give away any of the plot. Just sit down, watch... and enjoy. Enough said!

I've read many reviews of this film on IMDb, but have paid particular attention to those that have rated it lower. I can only guess that a lot of these have come from reviewers so generationally-detached from the events it portrays that they lack the real means of offering anything other than a criticism of pace, story-line, characterisation or plot dynamic. Maybe they expected more action, having been raised to expect this from war films. Maybe they expected less emotional involvement with the characters. Maybe the run time was a little long for people more used to the instant gratification offered by TikTok videos. Or maybe they were simply the wrong audience entirely for a film that delivers the impact it did on someone like me - the son of evacuees, and someone born not very long after the events the film portrays.

From my own experiences, and from the stories passed down to me from my parents and grandparents - people who actually lived through these times - this film captures so much. The period detail (including slang and common phrases, like 'All mouth and no trousers'), the emotional heft... and the sense, sadly long gone now, of people being brought together and helping one another in the spirit of common human suffering and endurance. Steve McQueen has tapped into this so well - obviously assisted as he has been by his knowledge of the film's admirable forebears: greats like 'We Dive at Dawn', 'The Sea Shall Not Have Them', 'This Happy Breed', 'Sink the Bismarck', 'The Cruel Sea', etc.

If you want a film that gives a gritty and realistic portrayal of life as it was then for ordinary working-class people, this is it.

So I say again, wholeheartedly: Fantastic job, Steve McQueen.

I've given it a 5, which feels about right. The production values are good, likewise the cinematography. And there's just enough content to keep the viewer engaged. Only just, though.

Essentially, this is a prime example of a Netflix serial that's been over-extended, and thereby stretched thin and a bit see-through. Four episodes, maybe even three, would have been enough. There's far too much drag in each episode, sub-plots that don't really add anything, and not really too much of a story to begin with. Also, the budgetary constraints imposed from having to fill six episodes were, to my mind, reflected in the choice of cast. The lead actor aside - she gave an excellent performance - most of the other performances were so-so, a bit second-rate, and in one particular case laughably awful (the London DI). Maybe, though - to give the actors their due - it could also be down to the fact that most of the characters were flat, cardboard-cut-out, cliched and under-developed. This is down to the writer.

As I said in the title... it's okay if you've exhausted all other options. Don't expect anything you haven't seen a dozen times before, though.