by May Honey, Contributing Writer
Army of Thieves follows quirky safecracker Ludwig Dieter (played yet again by Matthias Schweighöfer, who also takes directing duties on this film) in this Army of the Dead spinoff/prequel, as he embarks on a near impossible series of heists with a fellow group of bank robbers.
I’m not sure if most people even know about this movie, but, yes… this is the severely under-marketed spinoff to Army of the Dead, and itfollows the primary comedic relief character in that film. Spinoffs in general don’t have the greatest track record, and every so often end in absolute disaster. So suffice it to say expectations were not high for this one, despite me very much enjoying the film and character this is based on. So being the person I am, I decided to label myself… very cautiously optimistic.
BUT HEY! It turns out this is totally worth a watch! With this being the very simply digestible film it is though, this review pretty much writes itself. If you enjoy heist shenanigans and some fun, awkward humor, you’ll have a good enough time. The star of the show is pretty universally Schweighöfer. On both acting and directing fronts, he serves as the highlight of the film, giving it the personality, technique, and just general pathos that you’ll remember once the credits have rolled.
I’ve only known Schweighöfer as an actor from the projects I’ve seen him involved in from the past, but he’s actually been directing here and there for a little more than a decade now, with this easily being his most high budget and high caliber project. And from a little glazing over his directorial filmography, this seems to be his first movie that isn’t some sort of comedy-drama with a romantic tilt. That actually comes through on the screen in this case, and for the entire betterment of this story. He seems to really know how to let his actors fully realize their characters, much less by dialogue, but just through expression and mannerisms. You can tell each actor was really just having a fun time playing whatever respective over-the-top and fun character they were going for, and it’s Schweighöfer’s magic trick that he can really make all of those mesh. All of these characters feel very much like they belong on screen together and their evolving physical and emotional journey together was quite fun.
Also, just as a general note, the action was very well-directed, and not filmed in any predictable way. When the action scenes were there (which was, to be fair, only sparsely placed), I was always surprised with how well they were filmed. It was of course not a pinnacle of the technique, but it was done with a purposeful flair I recognized as having way more effort and thought than most modern blockbusters do.
The highlight of this film truly is the cute and quirk of it, though. The heist elements are important on a surface level, but make no mistake, this film is about an awkward man gaining self-confidence and growing as a person. You pretty instantly enjoy and empathize with the main character, and it only grows as the film goes on, with it easily being most enjoyable during the safe cracking itself. His passion for everything that goes into it is pretty endearing. From the stories he tells of the history of the safe and the story it tells, to the “warming up of his instruments,” to even the process of listening to the clinking and clanking of the gears itself, those sequences are quite enthralling. The sound design combined with the intercutting of the actors and the fully rendered inserts of the safe interiors are edited together and performed immensely well. Those will definitely serve as most of the moments I’ll remember.
I must say there is a level of disappointment to this movie, though, only through the sheer sin of just not quite knocking particularly anything out of the park. If the quirkiness was just taken a little bit farther, the pace was a little bit faster, or the safe cracking was a little bit more complicated and intricate as we go step by step with the characters, this could’ve been a lot better. I see an incredible heist film somewhere in here, but it probably just needed a bit more refining on a script stage. That’s not to say it’s poorly written, but maybe just a little too cookie cutter action heist for my tastes. Like if 2017’s Baby Driver lost about half of its personality. That movie would still be worth watching, but it wouldn’t be nearly as awesome as it is now.
So on a general level, Netflix is the perfect way to see this, because it is very much a film best experienced when you’ve had a long day or week of work and you want something fun and unchallenging to go along with for two hours then move on. There’s nothing wrong with movies like this, and over time, I’ve come to use some of them for that very purpose, but that doesn’t still give me a little reservation to call this great. It’s totally worth your time, and especially so if you’re a fan of Army of the Dead.
Grade: B-
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