Army Of Thieves [2021]

Army Of Thieves delivers a new take on heist movies that is honestly not as exciting as the Ocean 11 series. Also, being technically a prequel to Army of the Dead certainly didn’t help.

Can we stop making prequels and sequels just for the sake of it? Army Of The Dead was a good standalone movie. But this prequel feels a bit too forced. Army of Thieves doesn’t reinvent the heist thriller, but director & star Matthias Schweighöfer proves an appealing presence on both sides of the camera.

Even when I tried to hate him, Schweighöfer felt… familiar. Taking clues from Ocean 11,12 and 13 movies, this prequel gives us the backstory of Dieter, a German safe cracker we first saw in Las Vegas during Zac Snyder’s Army Of The Dead. Even taken on its own terms, this tale of young crooks is quite flimsy, but it has energy and a few disarming jokes.

Honestly, there’s not much more to celebrate or denounce from this movie. The cast is charismatic, especially leads Schweighöfer and Emmanuel, who both exude a sweetness missing in too many American action movies. However, much of the appeal of this movie will come down to how much one enjoyed Schweighöfer’s character Dieter. The rest is just…okay.

Should you watch it?

An average heist film that never quite pulls off the job of serving as a necessary prequel to a zombie movie. It’s a decent rainy Sunday afternoon movie. It’s like an Ocean’s Eleven movie crossed with Hot Fuzz, minus any really inspired ideas. That’s it.

Where can I watch it?

You can stream Army Of Thieves exclusively on Netflix.