‘Den Of Thieves 2’ Ending Explained & Full Story: Did Nick Help Donnie?

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Not that I am complaining, but director Christian Gudegast’s Den of Thieves franchise, which is gradually building its own niche fanbase thanks to the likeable characterization and the performances by the lead duo of Gerard Butler and O’Shea Jackson Jr., is not going to evade the allegations of being derivative any time soon. While the first movie of the franchise was a beat-for-beat imitation of Heat, the sophomore entry, Den of Thieves 2: Pantera, proves to be a funky, louder reimagination of Melville’s The Red Circle. I guess the choice of source was intentional, given the majority of the movie is set in France, and Donnie, the mastermind of the federal reserve heist in the previous movie, uses the cover of being a French diamond seller. While the movie lacks the much more interesting premise of its predecessor—especially the dynamics between Merrimen and LSPD officer Big Nick—the addition of humor complements the light-hearted tone of buddy-cop movies as intended for the sequel. There are plans to continue the franchise with sequels and spin-offs, which Den of Thieves 2’s ending hints at. 

Spoilers Ahead


How Did Nick Learn About Donnie’s Involvement in the Antwerp Heist?

Just like the first movie, Den of Thieves 2 opens with a meticulously planned heist sequence, as Donnie Wilson, along with a crew of former armed forces personnel turned fugitives, steals an uncut red diamond from a cargo flight. Using the guise of a SWAT unit of the Belgian police, Donnie and his crew take down the score and manage to escape. This time around, the team Donnie is a part of comprises even more forgettable players, except for Cleopatra, aka Jovannah, the techie who assists the team with comms and surveillance. The Panthers set their next target—the World Diamond Centre in the city of Nice, France—and accordingly, Donnie—under the guise of diamond merchant Jean-Jacques—sets up shop in the Diamond Centre by tricking Chava, one of the chief executives. Unbeknownst to Donnie and his pals, the red diamond originally belonged to Italian mafia boss, the Octopus, and through a GPS microchip attached to it, they became aware of the whereabouts of the crew who stole the diamond from the cargo flight. 

The narrative focus shifts to Big Nick, the rowdy officer of LSPD who took down Merrimen and his lackeys during the events of the first movie. However, Nick wasn’t able to stop the Federal Reserve heist, and he was aware that Donnie fled the country, taking the unaccounted for cash with him. As the cash was going to be disposed of anyway, Nick’s higher-ups don’t want to reopen the case in fear of scrutiny and public outcry, and when Nick tries to request an investigation, he is slammed with a temporary break from duty. Nick’s personal life has hit rock bottom as well, as his marriage with Debbie has failed, and following the divorce, he can meet with his daughter only on certain occasions. Overall, Nick is in a tough spot, and there is little to no chances for him to turn a new page. Donnie’s trail has hit a dead end, as Nick’s attempt to pressure Merrimen’s girlfriend to pry intel out of him results in failure as well, but she shares information about their money being stashed in a bank in Panama City. 

Things take a turn when Bob, the FBI agent/Nick’s friend, brings him details about transactions taking place in an account at Panama City Diamond Bank just after the Antwerp heist, and not so coincidentally, the account was opened before the federal reserve hit. Locating the deposit bank near the World Diamond Centre in Nice, it becomes easy for Nick to assess where Donnie has set up his base of operations. In a way, pursuing Donnie gives Nick a sense of purpose once again. Turns out that Nick doesn’t have to seek approval from Interpol, as he has a badge of US Marshal—basically a license for global jurisdiction. Asking Bob to cover up for him, Nick goes to Nice and meets up with Pantera Task Force chief, Hugo Cayman. Checking on the surveillance footage of the Diamond Centre, Nick finds Donnie to be present and confirms his suspicions. In the meantime, Marko and Vuk—two members of the heist crew—continuously get into disagreements with Donnie regarding a number of affairs, creating an overall tense situation in the team. 


Why Did Donnie Take Nick Into The Crew?

Without wasting much time, Nick drops by Donnie’s place and threatens him with consequences for tricking him in the past. Nick mentions how his life has taken a turn forever since the federal reserve hit, and he wants to be a part of Donnie’s upcoming heist. Donnie is not fully convinced about Nick’s intentions, but given that he shows the telltale signs of being a crooked cop, Donnie believes Nick is willing to risk it all to get a second chance at life and decides to take Nick to his crew and present him as a former accomplice. Jovannah and Slavko are able to assess Nick’s background as law enforcement personnel but decide to give him a chance to prove himself, as they too started their careers in the armed forces before breaking bad. 

While attending a party with the crew, Nick lets himself loose to gain the trust of the crew, flirts with Jovannah, and starts a bar brawl with Vuk and Marko before escaping the police with Donnie. A drunk Nick shares a moment with Donnie while satiating their midnight cravings at a food joint when Donnie shares his tragic past of having to witness his father getting murdered at a young age and spending his childhood in poverty. More than greed or anything else, the drive to prove himself to be able to dissect and break into any secure location is what motivates Donnie to take scores. Nick, on the other hand, shares that his old man had to live with a limp leg after getting shot by a random scoundrel, and it motivated him to join law enforcement to serve his brand of justice. This heartfelt conversation allows Donnie to trust Nick—while later, Nick’s allegiance is put into question by Hugo, who warns him he’s dealing with the wrong crowd. It should be mentioned that Octopus has Nick and Donnie abducted and threatens them with consequences if they don’t obtain the red diamond Donnie had stashed in the Diamond Centre deposit. Irrespective of whether the heist plan is active or not, Donnie needs to break into the Diamond Centre to get the mafia off his back. 

Nick forms a good rapport with the crew and is introduced to Chava as Donnie’s security, and using his new position, he is able to survey the Diamond Centre to assess where, in the deposit boxes, the red diamond has been kept. Meanwhile, Marko and Vuk go rogue and team up with a rival gang known as the Tigers to foil the heist plan at the right opportunity. 


Did Nick help Donnie at the end?

The heist itself goes much smoother than the fed hit in the previous movie, as Jovannah carefully navigates the crew through blind spots provided by a default interval loop in heavily surveillance-laced areas. This style haack is being repeatedly used by every other heist movie nowadays, and I wish the makers would come up with a better explanation or plot device from now on. Anyway, Nick risks his own skin to save the crew while escaping with the loot, and as the crew now trusts him completely—they too don’t leave him behind at the end. Changing the decal of the getaway vehicle (yes, seriously like this), the crew goes scot-free but eventually starts getting chased by Marko and Vuk, who have brought the Tigers with them to obtain the loot for themselves. 

Donnie and co. find themselves cornered by the Tigers at the end, when they unexpectedly get assisted by Octopus’ mafia gang—who kill their pursuers, effectively rescuing Donnie’s crew. Donnie hands over the red diamond to them, and both the parties part ways. Later, the crew gathers in Italy, having their stolen good evaluated—when the Pantera Task Force appears out of nowhere and catches the entire band red-handed. To absolutely no one’s surprise, Nick was playing the long game, and he turned in the team to Hugo and co., although he feigned innocence in front of Donnie and his crew. Nick could have had a second chance at life had he indeed decided to give in to his greed, but the sense of justice was too strong even for a crooked cop like Nick to give up on his morals. Although Nick seems apologetic for betraying his team, as Donnie and Jovannah are being taken away, they find out about Nick’s deceit. 

In Den of Thieves 2’s ending, Nick meets Donnie at prison and mentions that even though the bond the duo shared was genuine, at the end he couldn’t betray his own instincts. However, Nick doesn’t want to abandon Donnie to his fate either, and arranges a plan with Octopus and his mafia crew to rescue Donnie during his prison transfer. Donnie is taken to Octopus, who seems impressed with his skills and wants him to work for him from now on. Donnie accepts the offer, and during the final moments of the movie—knowing that his plan of freeing Donnie has worked, Nick drops a text to his friend before going on his way. 

A third Den of Thieves movie has been planned already, and there are multiple plot points shown in this entry that can shape up the upcoming sequel. Jovannah and Slavko will surely try to target Nick after his betrayal landed them in prison, and knowing that Donnie was able to escape his fate, they might turn on him as well. As for Nick, it will be interesting to see whether he tries to get his old life back on track, now that his success in capturing the World Diamond Centre heist crew might provide a boost in his career. Donnie’s involvement with the Italian mafia might pose a new kind of trouble down the line, making him a target of the who’s who of authoritative forces. What is certain is that Nick and Donnie will cross paths once again—and this time they might need to team up against a common adversary. 


Siddhartha Das
Siddhartha Das
An avid fan and voracious reader of comic book literature, Siddhartha thinks the ideals accentuated in the superhero genre should be taken as lessons in real life also. A sucker for everything horror and different art styles, Siddhartha likes to spend his time reading subjects. He's always eager to learn more about world fauna, history, geography, crime fiction, sports, and cultures. He also wishes to abolish human egocentrism, which can make the world a better place.


 

 

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