The Screen Addict Recommends – 𝗗𝗲𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝟮: 𝗣𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮 (𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱)

I didn’t expect to like 𝗗𝗲𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝟮: 𝗣𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮 as much as I did after all the negative reviews.

But then again: I should by now know better than to listen to the critics.

Writer-director Christian Gudegast clearly rewatched 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝘁 (𝟭𝟵𝟵𝟱), 𝗥𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗻 (𝟭𝟵𝟵𝟴), 𝗢𝗰𝗲𝗮𝗻’𝘀 𝗘𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 (𝟮𝟬𝟬𝟭) and 𝗦𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗼: 𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗮𝗱𝗼 (𝟮𝟬𝟭𝟴) before he set out to write the sequel to his modest heist-hit, but who could blame him. In fact – the amalgamation of these heist classics into 𝗣𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮 works like a charm.

Gerard Butler and O’Shea Jackson Jr. are solid, as is the rest of the cast.

I was surprised to see Dutch kickboxing-champ Rico Verhoeven in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it part as a mob enforcer. That face and physique definitely deserve more screen time.

Changing the locale to the South of France is a clever move. The atmosphere is almost palpable, and the awesome Vangelis-esque score by Kevin Matley certainly adds to that.

Also – M83’s Outro over the end credits isn’t a particularly original creative choice anymore, but you still can’t really go wrong with it either…

The ending suggests that the filmmakers are confident that there will be a threequel – and 𝗗𝗲𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝟯 has indeed been announced – but with 𝗣𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮 grossing $58 million worldwide against a $40 million production budget, another heist-adventure is anything but a sure bet.

Perhaps Butler, Gudegast and their co-producers should consider retooling the franchise for the small screen. Serializing the concept has worked wonders for the ...𝗛𝗮𝘀 𝗙𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻 films (on which Gudegast was a writer as well) and I for one would definitely watch 𝗗𝗲𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲𝘀: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀.

In any event…

Seek it out & get your fix.

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