While Jason Statham seems to get a lot of unfair flack for basically playing himself in every film, Gerard Butler has also seemingly tossed away the notion of playing different versions of himself, and now just largely focuses on relatively mid-budget action films that rely on the negligible star power he apparently still offers. Since he’s already “Fallen’ three times, which feels like a lot for that franchise, we’re pivoting to a sequel to Den Of Thieves. This time, Nick (Butler) is going to get his man Donnie (O’Shea Jackson Jr.), assuming they don’t want to have another den full of Thieves for Butler to go after, with the name of a rock band that also has a perfectly set up double meaning. Like, Den Of Theives 3: Creed. Or, den Of Thieves: Nirvana? Personally, I think they should just throw caution to the wind and go with Den OF Thieves 3: Insane Clown posse. Not only does it work to continue the model, but ICP actually sounds like a possible name for a band of thieves.

At two and a half hours, this movie is action ambien. Watch it when you’re tired, like a social media challenge to stay awake for the duration. Butler manages to pick these mediocre films that are just exactly that. mediocre. not awful, not unwatchable, but simply average. We are supposed to feel like the stakes got raised because the film now is globe trotting in Europe, and i guess the change of scenery is nice? there’s also a different dynamic between our leads, who are at odds, but facing a greater threat. There’s even a fun car chase in the third act of the film.

However, the film suffers from pacing issues, and what should have been a two hour film is thirty minutes longer so they can explain more things. I’m all for plot structure and character development, but then there’s also just talking to fill dead air, and most of the pacing issues feel like they could have been resolved by targeting and removing redundant dialogue, or ineffective sequences. It even feels like it has less action than the original film, which while not a masterpiece, is better than this.

While there are supporting characters, none of them are remotely as interesting as the original. If we get a third, I’ll skip that.

Rotten: 3.8/10 Audio Description: B+