Yes, it’s a trope-y, by-the-numbers heist movie, and not a particularly original script from Army of the Dead co-writer Shay Hatten, but Thieves sort of knows it and doesn’t take itself too seriously. In fact, it happens to be pretty funny movie, thanks to Schweighöfer excellent comedic timing and warmer outlook on life in juxtaposition to his much colder comrades, who play things straight despite how increasingly ridiculous their caper set pieces get. The movie is light on the gritty (sweaty) tone of its predecessor, and that’s a better fit for a character like Ludwig, who felt like an underdeveloped, comedic relief redshirt in the original but is fully fleshed out here and in his element. Despite its over two-hour runtime, Ludwig and the gang’s romp around Europe feels relatively breezy (although 20 minutes or so should have probably been excised anyway).
Army of Thieves isn’t just a showcase for Schweighöfer’s talent as a charming comedic actor but also as a promising director. While his predecessor used some…unusual camera techniques for the original, Schweighöfer goes for something much cleaner this time around, including shots of beautiful European vistas that would feel right at home in a James Bond movie. Some of the action sequences are better than others, but Schweighöfer does deliver a few standout moments, such as a fight scene with Emmanuel in the cavernous depths of a heavily guarded bank.
Ultimately, the best parts of Army of Thieves are the performances, from Schweighöfer’s nervous genius, to Fee’s sarcastic hipster hacker who also moonlights as a DJ, to Martin’s try-hard gunslinger who often feels like a tongue-in-cheek nod to some of Snyder’s own characters. There’s also Jonathan Cohen as a loser Interpol agent named Delacroix who is always two steps behind Emmanuel’s calculating master criminal. This ensemble is fun to watch, even if some characters feel more fully realized than others. I would have liked to spend a bit more time with sandwich-loving Rolph, who feels more like a henchman than a real member of the team. His intro sequence is cool, though.
As I said, if you’re mostly in it for the zombies, Army of Thieves won’t really scratch that itch. Yes, the movie nods to things going on in Sin City but you won’t be spending any real time there. In many ways, this prequel feels like the start of a spin-off series starring Ludwig and friends, and judging from the quality of this first outing, I’d definitely say more vaults await.
Army of Thieves is out on Netflix on Oct. 29.