'Army of Thieves': Actor and director Matthias Schweighofer shines in fun heist film
Spoilers for 'Army of Thieves'
'Army of Thieves' is the new heist movie in town as it dropped on Netflix. The thriller serves as the prequel to Zack Snyder's 'Army of The Dead' which was released earlier this year.
One of the characters from the first movie was genius safecracker Ludwig Dieter (Matthias Schweighöfer ). The prequel revolves around this lovable character in his early days of safecracking when he's recruited by a team of international thieves for the heist of a lifetime. With a diverse cast, talented writers, and high production the movie looks to be quite the spectacle. Read on to know what we thought of the newest Netflix release.
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'Army of Thieves' is set six years before the events of 'Army of The Dead' where we meet Sebastian Schlencht-Wohnert aka Ludwig Dieter, a safecracker of theoretical genius whose skills have never been put to test. As we are shown a glimpse of the start of the zombie epidemic in Nevada, the German bank teller with a passion for safecracking is recruited for an incredible heist that involves three legendary safes which were built like a puzzle and never opened. What follows is the greatest chapter of Dieter's life.
Matthias takes the reins as director for this movie with him also playing the lead. The movie has been written by Shay Hatten and Snyder and stars a new cast of Nathalie Emmanuel as Gwendoline, Guz Khan as Rolph, Ruby O. Fee as Korina, and Stuart Martin as Brad Cage. The heist movie is not something new with an abundance of heist flicks that are better already out there, but the film does not shy away from that fact. Instead, director Matthias has embraced it as he puts his all into playing Sebastian.
The actor/ director single-handedly manages to bring all the laughs with his chirpy Geman accent, usage of wrong expressions at the worst times, nervous sweats and is lovably comical to the core. The rest of the cast too, play their parts well but you can't help but focus on Matthias as he plays the adorable nerd who could endlessly talk about safecracking.
Coming to details, the movie has done an excellent job of making the actual disabling of safes fun to watch as usually we are shown the geniuses just do their bit and look cool. But nope, this time we are shown the intricacies of the parts and working of a safe as the puzzle is solved by the safecracker's sensitive ears and steady hands. The prequel also packs in plenty of thrills with its chase sequences as things go south for the gang. Who knew a bicycle chase could be so fun?
As the heist proceeds, we see action thrown in the mix as well with the Interpol hot on their tracks. The movie doesn't have the happy ending we want, but it is what it is. The film will get you chucking as Sebastian says the word 'Gulp' followed by the action. It also gave us the origin of the safecracker extraordinaire and how he came to be known as Ludwig Dieter.
Romance also makes an appearance in sweet moments during the adrenaline-filled robberies. An amusing watch with great location across the world, you can watch it any time of the day or week or simply watch it for Matthias who gives a standout performance that will surely bring a smile to your face. So comedy lovers and heist lovers unite to watch this movie and you won't be disappointed.
'Army of Thieves' will release on October 29, 2021, only on Netflix.