Little known in Australia are the Pink Panthers, an international network of elaborate jewel thieves who were named by Interpol after the comedy movie franchise of the same name. The Panthers were held responsible for a range of elaborate and detailed heists for more than a decade around the turn of the century.
The Last Panthers is a tense and elaborate six-part crime thriller not to be confused by those infamous earlier films. Set modern day, years since The Panthers stopped operating, a slickly executed jewellery heist in France proves reminiscent of the former gang’s modus operandi, launching a dangerous cat and mouse game that spans several countries and their corridors of power.
Spoken in both English and French, with subtitles where relevant, the series launches with the heist and dives straight into intrigue and mystery when a young girl is accidentally shot during the escape, making the diamonds too hot to sell. The thieves, led by Goran Bogdan as Milan, are surrounded on all sides by their foes, including police investigator Khalil (Tahar Rahim) and insurance investigator Naomi (Samantha Morton) who is tasked with recovering the diamonds at all costs by her boss (John Hurt).
Writer Jack Thorne provides a tense and clever opening to the series, with the lengthy escape demonstrating impressive forethought and planning. Director Johan Renck (Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead, Vikings) keeps the colours dull, with a lot of dilapidated settings, adding to the edgy feel already created by the action and dialogue.
With such a slick start, The Last Panthers promises to deliver six riveting episodes and it’s not hard to believe it will deliver. The acting is superb and the pace plays with the tension even in the slower scenes.
Reviewed by Rod Lewis
Twitter: @StrtegicRetweet
Rating out of 10: 9
All six episodes of The Last Panthers will be released on DVD from 9 June 2016.
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