Army of Thieves Movie Review: Funny but Safe
Dieter’s back…
Well sort of. If you have seen Army of the Dead then you know all about Dieter. (Which I won’t ruin for you in this post.) Army of Thieves though is a prequel to Army of the Dead and we finally get to see how Dieter became the hilarious safe cracker we see in Army of the Dead. Army of Thieves releases on Netflix on October 29, 2021. Here is my Army of Thieves Movie Review.
Army of Thieves Movie Review
One of the things I really dislike in a movie is foreshadowing that gives the whole movie away. There is a way that you can do foreshadowing that doesn’t give anything away, but Army of Thieves doesn’t do that. Sadly, even if you haven’t seen Army of the Dead you will know what happens to Dieter after watching Army of Thieves. But, if you look past the foreshadowing Army of Thieves is a decent and entertaining heist movie with zombies thrown in. (Yes, there are zombies in the movie. Eek!)
Army of Thieves is supposed to be a heist movie/love story. The movie takes place before Army of the Dead and the zombies have just taken over Las Vegas. As the world looks on in terror it’s the perfect time for a money heist. That is when Sebastian’s (soon to be Dieter) life changes and he joins up with a group of bank robbers. His job is to crack into 3 of the hardest to crack safe’s in the world. As he does this he falls in love with one of the leaders of the heist team, Gwendoline (Nathalie Emmanuel).
Love, Locks, and Zombies
While the concept of Army of Thieves is interesting it really isn’t that original, but it is Matthias Schweighöfer as Sebastian/Dieter that really makes the movie special. He is exceptionally funny and 100% makes the movie, and while I love Nathalie Emmanuel I feel the writing for her character was too safe. And the love story they tried to create between her and Sebastian just wasn’t there and didn’t add anything to the story. (It just gave him a reason to go to America.)
Just like the love story the heisting in the movie, while entertaining, could have been much better. What I did find was a nice touch though was the zombies that were thrown into the movie. There were just enough to scare you ever so slightly, but not enough to take away from other parts of the movie. But overall I feel it is a worthy and entertaining back story to one of the best characters in Army of the Dead.
My Rating
While not the best movie, Army of Thieves is still entertaining and it was nice to have a little back story for Dieter’s character. (Even though as slightly heartbreaking as it is.) In truth, I actually liked Army of Thieves more than Army of the Dead, but just slightly. So, what would I rate Army of Thieves? I give it a C+. (Ok maybe a C++ since it is slightly better than Army of the Dead. Haha!)
Movie Synopsis
After charming audiences as the wisecracking hero Dieter in Zack Snyder’s zombie blockbuster Army of the Dead, Matthias Schweighöfer takes center stage in the film’s prequel, which he also directs. Ditching the undead, Army of Thieves puts a modern spin on classic heist films with European flair and an unlikely love story. Produced by Snyder and co-starring Nathalie Emmanuel (the Fast and the Furious franchise), Army of Thieves chronicles the harrowing adventures that transformed Dieter from a sheepish German bank teller named Sebastian into the badass safe-cracker who became a fan-favorite character in Army of the Dead.
