Army of Thieves

 

Army of Thieves is the prequel to Army of the Dead, starring and directed by Matthias Schweighöfer. This action comedy is a bank heist movie that follows an unlikely band of misfits as they attempt to break into several highly intricate safes during the beginning of the zombie apocalypse.

I thought that the plot was fun to watch even though it was pretty predictable and there were parts that were unrealistic. There were pops of horror but nothing like Army of the Dead, which I was okay with. This was a much tamer, less zombie filled, action thriller. The script intended to have funny bits, and I did chuckle occasionally when Matthias' character Sebastian Schlencht-Wöhnert would do something or say something awkward but for the most part I wasn't laughing. 

Regarding casting, I liked that they brought Matthias back to do a deeper dive on Sebastian's past. This was a critique I had of Army of the Dead in that they didn't develop his character enough. So in going back, it helped to strengthen this piece, so that you could see his evolution from a more introverted and socially inept Sebastian to the confident safecracker Ludwig Dieter he becomes in Army of the Dead. He and Nathalie Emmanuel had good chemistry. I thought that her character as Gwendoline Starr was a perfect match for him. She was kind, confident, strong with impressive fight sequences, smart and fashionable.  The variety of her hairstyles throughout were also enviable. For the rest of the cast, some of the characters were pretty corny, and the majority were one dimensional and forgettable.

Even though this will not be a movie I would seek to watch again, it was at least an improvement from Army of the Dead.