Gerard Butler almost always plays tough characters. But what the “Greenland” star pulled off in the heist thriller “Criminal Squad” still puts the crown on the whole thing: Cop 'Big Nick' O'Brien, who often appears at the crime scene with a hangover, who even steals donuts from those who have just been shot , the gruff Scot revealed balls so big that you seriously had to ask yourself how he can even walk straight. On the gangster side, Pablo Schreiber was just as macho, which is why the investigative work gradually developed into one massive cock comparison, in whose shadow O'Shea Jackson Jr., as secret criminal mastermind Donnie Wilson, was able to orchestrate a really damn clever million-dollar heist.
In the last scene, the escaped Donnie was seen in a bar in Antwerp, where he was apparently already planning his next coup. And so begins the sequel, which opens in cinemas seven years later.Criminal Squad 2“ now also in the Belgian diamond stronghold, before moving its action after the opening scene directly to the much less well-known diamond district of Nice (possibly for tax reasons, but at the same time the Côte d'Azur is of course much more spectacular as a setting) . What follows is another heist thriller, which noticeably reduces the testosterone level after the first 15 minutes and thus sacrifices a good deal of the unique selling point of its predecessor. At the same time, Gerard Butler and O'Shea Jackson Jr., who hardly had any scenes together in the first part, prove to be a surprisingly convincing bad-guy-buddy duo.
Harmonize really well with each other: 'Big Nick' O'Brien (Gerard Butler) and Donnie Wilson (O'Shea Jackson Jr.).
Donnie Wilson (O'Shea Jackson Jr.) can't help it. After he gutted the Federal Reserve Bank like a Christmas goose in “Criminal Squad,” he is now working with the team of gangster bride Jovanna (Evin Ahmad) to reap similarly huge loot in the south of France. However, the tricked cop 'Big Nick' O'Brien (Gerard Butler) takes the matter in Los Angeles more than personally – and pursues the master planner to Nice, where he soon welcomes the hunted man on a balcony with a magnificent view. But surprise: Nick doesn't want to cheat Donnie at all, but instead wants to finally get a fair share of the cake himself. So the fuck-it detective joins the gang to steal diamonds worth hundreds of millions of dollars…
In his first scene, 'Big Nick' appears as we know him from his predecessor (and, depending on your taste, love or despise him): with his apparently fresh divorce papers between his teeth, he relieves himself at the urinal before taking his angrily fires the unnecessary wedding ring into the corner. A little later he kidnaps a stripper and even threatens to kill her if she doesn't tell him where Donnie has fled to. However, he forgot that she secretly recorded a video of him having sex with her in the first part. A no-nonsense noir cop with a testosterone level beyond good and evil. But upon arrival on the sunny Mediterranean coast, 'Big Nick' (unfortunately) immediately shifts down two gears.
Better view, less spectacular coup
But given the incredible view, you can hardly blame him. Christian Gudegast, who is once again responsible for directing and scripting, develops an atmospheric atmosphere, especially in the night scenes. As the cars wind their way along the serpentines wedged between cliffs and mountains, this is even reinforced by the unusual, almost spherical score. In its rough beauty, this is actually less reminiscent of modern holiday films than of genre films from the 1970s, a surprising number of which, like “Whom the Pack Rushes”, were also made on the European Mediterranean coast.
On the other hand, the heist itself doesn't seem nearly as spectacular as it did in “Criminal Squad”. Right from the start, Donnie rents a small office in a venerable diamond house – and the plan is to rob the lockers in the basement. Of course, the multi-million dollar lockers down there are secured in many ways, but in the end it still makes a huge difference whether you go into your (own) basement or into the only bank in Los Angeles that has never been robbed and is monitored like Fort Knox. In any case, it's not really clear why the entire European gangster world suddenly seems to think Donnie is the heist mastermind.
Nick (Garard Butler) even puts on a suit this time. But that's not necessarily the look that fans of the first part in particular want from him.
When Gerard Butler tries to ingratiate himself with his new gangster friends by shouting “FUCK NATO” and “FUCK THE POLICE”, O'Shea Jackson Jr. probably looks so puzzled because of his infamous father Ice Cube who rapped as a member of the hip-hop group NWA. A nice little inside gag. But the chemistry between the two stars is also good. At its core, the “Criminal Squad” series, like many westerns in the past, is about the question of whether cops and gangsters can even exist without each other – or whether it is not rather a symbiotic relationship with each other all necessarily interdependent.
When the Heist, which is shown in great detail, is over and you look at the clock, “Criminal Squad 2”, which is actually a bit long, still lasts almost half an hour. But not only is this central theme being developed further, but at the same time a possible “Criminal Squad 3” is clearly being prepared. In any case, we would be back at the start. However, we wish that Gerard Butler would give the monkey a little more sugar than in the second part. Then we'll definitely keep our fingers crossed that it won't take another seven years until the series is continued.
Conclusion: With fewer twists and testosterone than its predecessor, “Criminal Squad 2” lives primarily from the chemistry between Gerard Butler and O'Shea Jackson Jr. – the two have searched and found each other to play a screen-ready game of cops and robbers .