Christian Gudegast's action sequel occasionally works, but gets too caught up in cliche criminal caper tropes.

Christian Gudegast's sequel ups the stupidity of the cat-and-mouse thriller that preceded it en route to becoming far more entertaining than it had any right to be. A mere seven years later, “Den of Thieves 2: Pantera” rolled into our lives with almost as many red flags as the Chicago Bears’ coaching vacancy.

Den Of Thieves delivered the goods (as a kind of junior version of Michael Mann’s classic Heat which matched De Niro and Pacino) and a ballsy attempt to rob the unrobbable Los Angeles Federal Reserve.