Army of Thieves premieres globally on Netflix on October 29th.
Synopsis
In this prequel to “Army of the Dead,” a mysterious woman recruits bank teller Dieter to assist in a heist of impossible-to-crack safes across Europe.
Review
Earlier this year, Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead debuted on Netflix to applause from fans and critics. In that film, we were introduced to a huge group of mercenaries who ventured into a zombie-infested Las Vegas to pull off a gigantic heist and you can obviously expect for everything to go wrong ending in an action-packed fight for survival. The standout in that film certainly was Matthias Schweighöfer’s German safecracker Ludwig Dieter. He was used as a perfect comedic relief for the movie and truly was the character with the most personality in Zack Snyder’s second zombie flick. So, five months later, Dieter has returned in the prequel, Army of Thieves, but, is it worth watching this weekend?
Army of Thieves takes place before the events of Army of the Dead and follows Dieter, a German Bank Teller who makes YouTube videos about the fabled safes designed by the locksmith Hans Wagner when he catches the eye of Gwendoline (played by Nathalie Emmanuel – known for playing Ramsey in F9), a beguiling career criminal whose take-no-prisoners exterior belies a desire to love and be loved. To Dieter’s shock, Gwen enlists him to be part of her motley crew of some of Interpol’s most wanted: the jack-of-all-trades Korina (Ruby O. Fee), rugged bad boy Brad (Stuart Martin), and getaway sidekick Rolph (Guz Khan). As the five misfits zigzag across Europe cracking a trio of impenetrable vaults known as the Ring Cycle — Das Rheingold, the Valkyrie, and the Siegfried — French law-enforcement officials Delacroix (Jonathan Cohen) and Beatrix (Noémie Nakai) are hot on their trail.
I am just going to get this out of the way: Army of Thieves is a ton of fun! It isn’t anything you haven’t seen in movies like Heat or even recently with Hell or High Water and Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver but its two hour runtime flies by and its bursting with energy.
Let’s start off with the cast. As great as he is in front of the camera, Matthias Schweighöfer excels as the director and brings a certain style to the film that keeps everything upbeat and oozing with charm and charisma. All the cast are great and deliver fun performances. Schweighöfer is excellent as Dieter, while Nathalie Emmanuel steals the show as Gwendoline. Her character has great chemistry with Dieter, has a great screen presence and is truly badass during the action sequences. I really hope we see more of this character in the future because she really is the highlight of the film. Another character that is great in Army of Thieves is wannabe action hero Brad Cage (played by Stuart Martin). He basically feels like a rip-off of Nicolas Cage in Con Air but in the best way possible and it works perfectly.
The action is also brilliant here. There are some great chase sequences and bank robberies that always keep the film engaging and exciting. Being over two hours long, there is a lot of time for the action to be dialled up to eleven and also for breathing room for quieter moments that are filled with emotion. There is a perfect balance between the two and that allows the story to be a lot more coherent than Army of the Dead, which I found to be a bit more action-focused and style-over-substance.
However, I did find the main antagonist for the film to be incredibly bland and forgettable. Jonathan Cohen’s Interpol detective, Delacroix, wasn’t given enough screen time and development to feel like a true threat to Dieter and the gang. He kind of just feels there.
On the other hand, Hans Zimmer’s score is superb! It is incredibly lively and upbeat and has that distinctive Zimmer flare that I have come to expect from the composer. From Dune to No Time to Die, Zimmer truly has ended the year with yet another great score.
Verdict
Army of Thieves is an absolute blast from beginning to end. It’s an action-packed rollercoaster ride with twists and turns I didn’t see coming. Matthias Schweighöfer proves himself as a talent in front and behind the camera while Nathalie Emmanuel is a standout. Even if the villain is fairly weak and it isn’t anything you haven’t seen before, fans will have a lot of fun and enjoy seeing more of the safecracking Dieter.
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