Action film Army of Thieves brings us back into the world of Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead in the form of a prequel.
Army of Thieves puts us in the shoes of acclaimed safecracker Sebastian aka Dieter played by the fabulous Matthias Schweighöfer. We get to see the origins of this character and how he became the safecracker we come to know in Army of the Dead.
The pace of this movie mirrors that of its predecessors and lets us know right off the bat that we are in the same world, which is something that I really appreciate. The familiarity allows the viewers to jump right back in.
We later find out how Dieter got his name. Despite the events of Nevada going on, he lives a normal life in Germany – if you can call living in a zombie apocalypse normal. You get the nation, however, that Dieter is longing for more purpose, meaning, and adventure. He works at a bank and his daily routine is full of monotony.
It’s interesting because it really serves as an example of how so many people live their lives the same way, day in and day out, and don’t take any risks. You can tell that Dieter knows and believes that he is destined for more, but he’s stuck on how to actually get there.
All that changes when Dieter sees a comment posted on his YouTube channel that piques his interest. This leads him to an underground safe cracking contest. While the pressure is tense, Dieter manages to come out on top of the competition. This is actually one of my favorite scenes of the movie. It captured my imagination, and my heart was racing like I was actually there.
The next day at Dieter’s routine visit to his favorite coffee shop he meets Gwendoline played by Nathalie Emmanuel.
Gwendoline saw Dieter’s YouTube video breaking down the legend of Hans Wagner, a master safe builder who was renowned across the world for his intricate safes. The ones he built are world-famous and Dieter is inspired to crack these safes.
Wagner built a series of 4 safes that all level-up their degree of difficulty from one to another. Gwendoline appeals to Dieter’s passion and sense of adventure to crack these safes, which is also in line with her goals. She’s an infamous jewel thief and is a part of a crew that makes its living robbing banks. From there the real adventure of this movie begins!
The pacing of this movie doesn’t miss, and it has so much comedic charm. It really keeps you engaged because we don’t know what’s coming next.
As we meet Gwendoline’s crew – a hacker (played by Ruby O. Fee), a getaway driver (played by Guz Khan), and the leader/muscle (played by Stuart Martin) – we dive into their gameplan of their next heist.
The spirit of adventure permeates this movie, and it begs the viewer to question what they are really doing with their life.
Army of Thieves does a masterful job of combining comedy, mythos, and action into a story that left me wanting to see more of this universe and the people involved. It also has this underlying question: Despite life’s circumstances, are we brave and bold enough to squeeze every possible ounce out of life?
I highly recommend this movie! |THIS.
[By Alex The Host]
