Owen Gleiberman of Variety calls Den of Thieves 2: Pantera a satisfying impersonation of a high-end crime film, saying that Gerard Butler is good enough to lift “a piece of pulp so it almost seems like a real movie.” The critic continues:

The dogged cop and wily thief butt heads again in Christian Gudegast's follow-up to his 2018 heist thriller. Imagine the iconic diner sit-down scene between Al Pacino and Robert De Niro in Michael Mann’s Heat stretched out to feature length and you’ll get some idea of Den of Thieves 2: Pantera.

Christian Gudegast’s juiced-up “Heat” homage “Den of Thieves” has become a bit of a cult hit in the seven years since it was released, due in large part to co-star Gerard Butler’s boisterously haggard performance as “Big Nick” O’Brien,

Pantera debuts in the US theaters today. Review scores for the sequel have now started to come in and have surpassed those of the original, with the movie getting strong ratings on Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic.

A heist procedural, a film granular with details about one massive criminal undertaking, elevated by a pair of charismatic leading men in one of the most beautiful places in the world.

Pantera debuts in the US theaters today, January 10. Review scores for the sequel have now started to come in and have surpassed those of the original, with the movie getting strong ratings on Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic.

Gerard Butler and O’Shea Jackson Jr. are back in “Den of Thieves 2: Pantera,” four years after their first action-packed heist thriller became a hit. The Lionsgate movie has made $1.35 million in Thursday previews so far at the box office.

Pantera made $1.35M yesterday from showtimes that began at 6PM, a figure that’s ahead of the $950K previews of the original 2018 movie by +42%, but under last year’s other guy meat and potatoes movie,

Butler's brusque, beady-eyed, scowling-hulk charisma has aged well. A quick-fire actor in a caveman's body, he has the ability to lift a piece of pulp so that it almost seems like a real movie.