Shared cinematic universes are all the rage these days and now it seems Netflix wants in, spinning off this year’s successful Army of the Dead into future sequels, animated series and a prequel: Army of Thieves. Ditching the zombies for a heist film focused on Matthias Schweighöfer’s safecracking Ludwig Dieter, Army of Thieves is a fun if ultimately throwaway addition to the burgeoning franchise, kept afloat by a frenetic performance from Schweighöfer and not much else.
As the zombie outbreak begins to surge in Las Vegas, Ludwig Dieter (Schweighöfer) watches on from the television, far removed in his mundane life as a bank teller in Potsdam, Germany. When he receives a mysterious invitation to put his safecracking skills to the test, Dieter finds himself embroiled in an audition to join jewel thief Gwendoline (Nathalie Emmanuel) and her team – tech expert Korina (Ruby O. Fee), getaway driver Rolph (Guz Khan) and weapons specialist Brad (Stuart Martin) – on a series of bank heists. When Dieter begins to fall for Gwendoline, cracks begin to form in the team already embroiled in the most dangerous game of all: gaining access to and cracking legendary locksmith Hans Wagner’s most intricate safes.
Taking over the directing reigns from Zack Snyder is Schweighöfer himself, who fashions the film into another heavily stylised affair through Dieter’s narration and the use of classic heist film techniques; like showing the entire heist as it is explained via voiceover. It makes for some enjoyable, fast paced heist sequences that keep you engaged even if the narrative surrounding these them drags and meanders through clichéd romances and rivalries. What doesn’t work is the constant comparisons to other heist films; characters constantly discussing how these heists are different to the ones you see “in the movies”… except they aren’t. The heists themselves are fun, sure, but nothing audiences haven’t seen done better before in a myriad of other films and it makes this kind of meta grandstanding come off as pretentious rather than charming.
Where Snyder’s influence is felt the most is in the colour palette. Army of Thieves is a frustratingly dull film to look at; from the streets of Germany to Paris and St. Moritz it all looks exactly the same, a dark and dingy mix of greys and silver that mimic the concrete and steel of the safes Dieter is cracking. Even the names of locations superimposed over the scenery can be missed; a different shade of grey that blends into all the other greys on screen. Where are the vibrant oranges and blues of the poster? Hell, even the costumes are a monochromatic mess of boredom. Other than that, the film is only tangentially linked to Army of the Dead. The zombie apocalypse in Las Vegas is occurring, but it never affects the story outside of some foreboding dream sequences.
What keeps it all together is Schweighöfer himself. He gives a gleefully giddy performance – Dieter anxiously babbles away, reassuring himself that they will succeed – that expands on the charm of the character audiences know from Army of the Dead without overdoing it; no easy feat given the amount of times Schweighöfer squeals in terror at any tricky situation. Nathalie Emmanuel is perfectly fine as Gwendoline, not given anything more to do other than serving as Dieter’s guide to the criminal underworld and love interest, but there is a sweetness to their relationship; an intimacy that the rest of the film steers well clear of in favour of huge, bombastic set-pieces.
There’s some fun to be had with Army of Thieves, an inoffensive if unnecessary addition to the Army of the Dead shared universe that succeeds on the strength of Schweighöfer’s endearing lead performance. It would have been nice to see a more contained, less epic in scope film than Army, given the comparatively much lower stakes here, but this is a perfectly serviceable action film to throw on on a lazy afternoon. But can we ditch the drab colours for the next instalment please?
Army of Thieves stars Matthias Schweighöfer, Nathalie Emmanuel, Ruby O. Fee, Stuart Martin, Guz Khan, Noémie Nakai & Jonathan Cohen – Streaming on Netflix now.
