‘Den of Thieves 2’: No One Plays a Swaggering, Sexy Jerk Like Gerard Butler

“Honor must be respected,” intones Jovanna (Evin Ahmad) at the start of Den of Thieves 2: Pantera, which hits theaters Jan. 10. But as the old saying goes, there’s no such thing among thieves, and that proves all too true in this stellar sequel to 2018’s cult hit.

Relocating from the streets of Los Angeles to the winding roads and outdoor cafes of Europe, Christian Gudegast’s follow-up is a brawnier and more conflicted beast, its globetrotting story expansive and intricate, its centerpiece a master class in heist action, and its protagonist—once again embodied by a magnetic Gerard Butler—a lost soul caught perilously between right and wrong. Rather than simply duplicating his directorial debut, the filmmaker instead pushes further into morally hazy terrain, largely obliterating the line separating cops and crooks. In the process, he infuses his inspired-by-real-events tale with the muscularity of its metal-titan namesake, all while pivoting everything around the grungy, rugged charisma of his star.

In the aftermath of Donnie Wilson (O’Shea Jackson Jr.) successfully making off with millions from the Los Angeles Federal Reserve, “Big Nick” O’Brien (Butler) is a mess, frustrated by his now-finalized divorce, unable to convince his superiors that a crime has even taken place—since Donnie pilfered untraceable cash—and furious over being bested by his adversary (“No one gets over on me”).

Despite no longer having a job with the Sheriff’s office, Big Nick is determined to track down Donnie, and with some help from FBI agent Lobbin’ Bob (Jordan Bridges), intel from the late Ray Merrimen’s (Pablo Schreiber) stripper girlfriend, and a U.S. Marshals badge (which is expired, but whatever), he tracks Donnie to a bank in Nice. More intriguingly, that financial institution is right next door to the World Diamond Center, suggesting that the crook is already making headway on his next lucrative score.

Den of Thieves 2: Pantera opens with Donnie and a new crew (dressed as police officers) stealing diamonds from a plane—a robbery that, it gradually becomes clear, is the thief’s way of acquiring goods that will get him in the door of the World Diamond Center.

Donnie’s cohorts are members of one cell of the Panther mafia, a sprawling underworld organization infamous across the continent for its daring exploits. His prime partner Jovanna (Evin Ahmad) is a no-nonsense leader who rallies most of her cohorts around Donnie, save for a pair of heavies who balk, ominously, at his participation in the gambit. Donnie’s plan involves infiltrating the heavily guarded facility by posing as a wealthy diamond dealer, and once inside, he sets about casing the joint and figuring out a way to access its fortified vault, where countless riches await anyone lucky enough to get past the building’s endless cameras, motion sensors, and guards.

As Donnie gets to work on an illicit venture modeled after the real 2003 Antwerp diamond heist, Big Nick arrives in France, where he bristles with a task force agent over his mispronunciation of “croissant.”

He swiftly finds the man he wants, and though their sit-down across a table—shaggy-bearded Big Nick eating food and drinking whiskey with cocky ne’er-do-well energy—is reminiscent of Heat’s Pacino-De Niro face-off, Gudegast channels Michael Mann (the series’ spiritual godfather) and then subverts expectations. Big Nick tells Donnie that he’s onto him and, surprisingly, wants a piece of the pie he’s planning to pilfer. In need of cash and disillusioned by a profession that no longer values him, he’s decided to break bad.

Operating on a grander scale than before, Gudegast exhibits a flair for this sort of macho mayhem, staging the material’s pulse-pounding sequences in up-close-and-personal fashion that’s complemented by aerial shots which provide a sense of sweeping scale. Den of Thieves 2: Pantera feels huge and menacing and, better still, a tad melancholy, as Big Nick’s gung-ho enthusiasm for Donnie’s scheme is offset by the weariness and doubt in his eyes.

Butler continues to exude an intimidating measure of he-man deviousness as the disgraced cop, not to mention a fondness for indulging in booze, drugs, and women, as he amusingly does during an early get-together with Donnie and his pals that’s designed to test his loyalty to their cause. Yet there’s something beaten-down about his rule-breaking bada--, with the actor coloring Big Nick’s manliness with shades of doubt about who he wants to be and where his allegiances lie.

Den of Thieves 2: Pantera continues to parallel Big Nick and Donnie as two sides of the same coin, their “weird symbiosis” peaking after an evening of revelry when the two share stories about their dads (“Couples therapy,” as Big Nick puts it) over late-night shawarma. Jackson’s cool and poised demeanor meshes well with Butler’s unkempt volatility and untrustworthiness, and they make for a compelling pair as things proceed toward the heist.

When that endeavor arrives, Gudegast kicks the film into another gear, delivering a prolonged dose of suspense through expert choreography, full of ticking-clock anxiety, clever maneuvering, and death-defying feats. Moreover, he peppers his sequel with a collection of small details—such as Donnie placing his own doorstop in front of his hotel entrance as a failsafe precaution against intrusion—that helps flesh out both his world and his characters.

As if Big Nick and Donnie’s mission wasn’t hazardous enough on its own, they’re eventually threatened by the Italian mafia, who owned the original gigantic diamond Donnie snatched. That outfit’s desire to reclaim their property adds an additional layer of danger to the duo’s escapades, and the writer/director ties everything up neatly with a blistering automotive shootout that ends things on a brutal high.

Nonetheless, there’s no definite resolution to be found in Den of Thieves 2: Pantera; regardless of the momentous choices made by both Big Nick and Donnie, their ultimate fates are left hanging in the air, the better to set up additional sequels designed around their fluctuating love-hate dynamic.

With his sophomore behind-the-camera outing, Gudegast more overtly crafts his series as a cross between Heat and The Fast and the Furious, with Butler and Jackson as the yin-yang heart of an ongoing battle between light and dark, loyalty and treachery. Given how successfully the filmmaker pulls off this sleek, strapping second act, receiving any additional installments would be a welcome turn of events—if not an action-movie honor.