Army of Thieves can feel like a confusing sequel to those who liked Army of the Dead. The zombies are mentioned and shown several times in the film, but most of the focus is on Ludwig Dieter (Matthias Schweighöfer), who is still using his original name, Sebastian.
Sebastian starts off as a nervous, neurotic bank teller who makes videos on YouTube on safe-cracking. Unfortunately, they have zero views. Suddenly, he gets one viewer, who invites him to an underground safe-cracking contest where he manages to beat the competition.He is thrown into the world of bank heists as a beautiful woman, Gwendoline (Nathalie Emmanuel) recruits him to crack three of the legendary quartet of safes designed by Hans Wagner, who designed these safes after each of Richard Wagner’s operas in the Ring of Nibelung cycle.
Army of Thieves is unexpectedly charming. The crew itself is just as interesting, and in some cases, even more so than the crew in Army of the Dead. We get to spend some time with them and see Korina (Ruby O. Fee), Brad Cage (Stuart Martin) and Rolph (Guz Khan) in their natural habitats. Unfortunately, they don’t get fleshed as much as you would expect from something like Ocean’s Eleven, and they don’t mesh as well as a team.
The heists themselves are entertaining, but if you spend some time thinking about their structure, you realize it’s nothing you haven’t seen before done better in more classic heist films.
In fact, the heists are almost a backdrop to Sebastian encountering the safes and cracking them. An almost lavish amount of attention is placed on the mechanism and artistry of these safes, and Sebastian almost seems to be having a religious experience as he cracks them. You also get a crash course about the Ring cycle operas as he cracks them, which is a nice touch that adds to the lore of the film’s world.
Things get more dangerous in the second heist, and just as the story seems to be taking a bold new turn, things get back to normal, with the added wrinkle that the team breaks off into two competing halves.
The action is competent and exciting, but it is hindered by the constant use of shaky cam.
Schweighöfer, who also directs the movie, is great as Sebastian. His comedy, though a bit offbeat and understated, is great, as he often lets out high-pitched screams and, near the end, tries to punch someone but ends up hurting his hand. Like Gwendoline, Sebastian is more focused on the excitement of cracking the Wagner safes than making money, which is more of a side benefit to him. He has good chemistry with Emmanuel, who, like the rest of the crew, is shortchanged. We only get one scene where all the main characters’ backstory is conveniently dumped and then it’s rarely brought up again in the film.
Army of Thieves is an interesting addition to the franchise. Will we get to meet some of the characters again? Zack Snyder has hinted that Sebastian and Gwendoline may return in Planet of the Dead, the sequel to Army of the Dead.
I actually enjoyed this film more than Army of the Dead. It feels more fully-realized, although it doesn’t quite reach greatness. Let’s hope future additions to the franchise also manage to be original while still adding to the lore.