Army of Thieves Review: A Heist Without the Zombies

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What happens in Army of Thieves?

Army of Thieves is the prequel story of Army of the Dead, and the backstory of the safecracker, Ludwig Dieter. Before finding his way into America, Dieter, then named Sebastian, worked as a bank teller, and filmed YouTube videos on safecracking. His most passionate project was on Hans Wagner and his expertly crafted safes. When given the opportunity to join a team to crack 3 of the 4 existing safes in the series, Sebastian accepts with open arms and begins a new adventure.

Who are the characters in Army of Thieves?

Sebastian, or Ludwig Dieter as he is known in the other movie, is the resident safecracker, who is able to crack any safe imaginable. Gwendoline comes from a rich family, but after ditching them, she turns to a life of thievery. Korina is the hacker of the group. She is able to break down any firewall and hijack any kind of electronics. Brad Cage is the jock of the group. He’s on the frontlines if anything goes south. Finally, Rolph is the getaway driver who is great at drifting. 

Army of Thieves Review

Army of Thieves is a direct prequel to Army of the Dead, and although they probably fit together better if watched in release order, I think you could watch them chronologically and survive. I really enjoyed the fact that Army of Thieves doesn’t need Army of the Dead to make sense.

You could watch this as a one-off film and be content. You might not love the ending due to the lead into Army of the Dead, but you would survive. The characters are awesome, I thought the story was good, and the minor hints back to Army of the Dead were really well done. 

My only strife with this movie is that it feels a little bit too easy. This might venture into spoiler land just a little bit, so that’s your only warning. The way the heists occur feels too simplistic, and really too easy. Everything else about the movie follows the complicated, overly planned, very detailed pattern.

When it is time to rob the banks or crack the safes, everything just falls into place. I felt it was missing the “oh no” moment, the complication that makes every ticking clock type of movie so captivating. Other than that I loved this movie, but things just seemed a little too perfect for our protagonist. 

Our protagonist is the highlight of this movie. Sebastian is a hilarious, nervous young man who hates his job and loves safes. His timid, scrawny frame make him a really easy character to root for. You just want him to succeed. In the same breath, we watch him gain confidence and knowledge as the movie progress, and the things that truly matter to Sebastian start to show. Although he starts a little bit one-dimensional, we watch him bloom into a rounded character with fears and goals.

By the end of the movie, the Sebastian we see in Army of the Dead comes out. The character development from movie to movie was really well done, and although they won’t get much media attention, I thought Rolph and Korina were really good supporting characters. The limited screen time worked well for their characters, and it allowed me to enjoy the comedy they brought to the movie without thinking about where they fit in or how they don’t really have much backstory. 

Army of Thieves is a lot better than Army of the Dead, although it is interesting to see two movies in a series in such different genres. For anyone like me who wasn’t quite sure what this movie was going to be like coming off of Army of the Dead, I can say with confidence it is worth the watch.