‘Den of Thieves 2’ Solidified Gerard Butler as a B-Movie Action Hero

Den of Thieves 2: Pantera debuted on Netflix with so much anticipation and excitement that it’s easy to forget that the film began its life as a theatrical release. Indeed, Den of Thieves 2: Pantera only had an 18-day theatrical release window before the sequel was released on VOD. Just as the theatrical and VOD releases of Pantera triggered a resurgence in popularity for the first Den of Thieves film, the sequel’s expected streaming popularity and strong VOD performance led to the announcement of Den of Thieves 3.

Such calculations have defined the recent career of Den of Thieves series star Gerard Butler, whose decidedly formulaic and uninspired starring action vehicles have been primarily geared toward streaming audiences. Accordingly, while the role of rule-breaking Los Angeles police detective Nick O’Brien in Den of Thieves 2: Pantera and its predecessor have provided Butler with arguably the most distinctive and interesting character he’s played over the past decade, Butler’s streaming stardom has resulted in a career paradox, in which audiences are much more inclined to want to watch his starring vehicles through streaming and VOD than in a theater.

‘Den of Thieves 2’ Embodies Gerard Butler’s Transition from A-List Star to B-Movie Action Hero

Den of Thieves 2: Pantera

3
/5

Release Date

January 10, 2025

Runtime

144 minutes

Director

Christian Gudegast

Writers

Christian Gudegast

Read Our Review

After Gerard Butler achieved major stardom with his fiery performance as King Leonidas in the 2006 historical action film 300, he displayed impressive versatility in the genres of action, drama, and romantic comedy. However, Butler encountered a career precipice with the commercial and critical failure of the 2017 disaster film Geostorm, which had a damaging effect on his career and led to his jolting transition from borderline A-list Hollywood star to B-movie action hero, beginning in 2018 with the release of Den of Thieves.

In the approximately seven-year gap between the releases of Den of Thieves and Den of Thieves 2: Pantera, Butler’s career has been entirely devoted to modestly budgeted action vehicles in which he invariably plays a seemingly ordinary guy-hero who finds redemption by purging screen villains in often brutal ways. This is especially visible in the 2023 action thriller film Plane, in which he plays a widowed take-no-prisoners commercial airline pilot who, after performing an emergency landing on a remote island in the Philippines, is forced to summon his extraordinary aptitude for violence to save his passengers from an army of terrorists.

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While Den of Thieves 2: Pantera puts a slight spin on this formula by having Butler’s character, disgraced Los Angeles police detective Nick O’Brien, seemingly switch sides by traveling to Europe to join a crew of thieves in executing an elaborate diamond heist, Den of Thieves 2: Pantera otherwise proves that while Butler remains an endearing action-hero presence, his screen persona has become too predictable for him to be able to elevate his action vehicles above being merely diverting and watchable.

Butler Has Become a Poor Man’s Jason Statham

One of Gerard Butler’s closest contemporaries is Jason Statham, who made his screen acting debut in Guy Ritchie’s 1998 black comedy crime film Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, while Butler starred in Ritchie’s 2008 crime comedy film RocknRolla, which features one of his most memorable performances as a small-time gangster named One-Two. However, while his career eclipsed that of Statham’s throughout the 2000s, and even several years beyond, Statham’s career has clearly surpassed Butler’s career over the past decade, both in terms of box-office success and Statham’s ability to apply quality control principles to his career.

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Indeed, Statham’s advantage over Butler owes primarily to his superior choice of collaborators and material, as while he hasn’t worked with a prominent director since Alex Proyas on the 2016 fantasy action film Gods of Egypt, Statham has, in addition to his continued relationship with Ritchie, aligned himself with such directors as Paul Feig, James Wan, Simon West, and, most recently, David Ayer on the 2024 action thriller film The Beekeeper.

Moreover, the agile Statham simply looks much better than the increasingly weathered Butler, despite the fact that he is approximately two and a half years older than Butler. While Statham’s martial arts training has enabled him to maintain an aura of realism with his continually impressive fight scenes, the 55-year-old Butler acts and looks every bit his age.

Butler’s Streaming Popularity Killed His Box-Office Drawing Power

During its limited theatrical run, Den of Thieves 2: Pantera grossed $57.1 million at the worldwide box office, Gerald Butler’s second-highest theatrical total over the past five years, behind the $74.5 million worldwide gross of Plane. Butler’s last starring vehicle to gross over $100 million at the worldwide box office was the third installment in the Has Fallen film series, the 2019 action thriller Angel Has Fallen, which finished its theatrical run with a worldwide gross of over $146 million.

The film saw a generally positive audience and critical reaction, as it presently holds a 63% critical rating and 79% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, far above the numbers for Den of Thieves. However, Butler’s lackluster box-office track record over the past decade demonstrates that his core audience has become increasingly consolidated and shows no signs of expanding, except on Netflix, where Butler remains a superstar. Den of Thieves 2: Pantera is streaming on Netflix.