Now, for the reason you clicked. This review focuses on the H265 (HEVC) digital release (streaming/download, likely around 15-25 Mbps).
The plot is predictable (will they betray each other? Of course they will), and the run time (2 hours, 24 minutes) is unjustifiable for a movie this pulpy. However, the action is bone-crunching, the double-crosses are fun, and Butler chews the Riviera scenery like a man who just discovered escargot with hot sauce. It’s dumb, loud, and satisfying.
Is Den of Thieves 2: Pantera a good movie? It’s a guilty pleasure—too long, too macho, and too proud of its own stupidity. Is this H265 release worth your bandwidth? Absolutely.
If you watched the first Den of Thieves on a standard H264 stream, you may recall macroblocking in the dark LAPD bar scenes and banding during the smoky shootout. Pantera ’s H265 encode is a substantial upgrade.
Christian Gudegast’s 2018 sleeper hit Den of Thieves was never trying to be Heat . It was a barrel-chested, beer-and-bullets B-movie that knew exactly what its audience wanted: gruff men, greasy diner food, and reloading sounds in 5.1 surround. Six years later, Pantera doubles down. Gerard Butler returns as "Big Nick" O’Brien, now a disgraced sheriff’s deputy chasing the suave Euro-thief Donnie (O’Shea Jackson Jr.) into the world of the Panther mafia and a diamond heist at the World Diamond Center in Nice, France.
Rating: ★★★½ (3.5/5)