Army of Thieves (Mini-Review)

Army of Thieves is a prequel movie to Army of the Dead. Six years before Army of the Dead Sebastian Schlencht-Wöhnert, later known as Ludwig Dieter, is just an average bank teller with a hobby of breaking safes. After getting a cryptic message, he soon runs into Gwendoline Starr who gives him the chance to live a more exciting life. Deciding to break out of his average life, Sebastian agrees to help her break into three impossible to crack safes. Army of Thieves was released on Netflix in 2021. It  is directed by Matthias Schweighöfer. It stars Matthias Schweighöfer, Nathalie Emmanuel, and Ruby O. Fee.

This movie only has brief nodes to the zombie outbreak in Las Vegas. Every now and again there will be news broadcasts about what's going on in Nevada or Sebastian will have a nightmare about zombies. So if you're expecting another wild zombie ride, you will be disappointed. But as long as you're not expecting to run into the undead you will be fine.

One popular theory is that the Army of the Dead involves a time loop where the characters are stuck forever breaking into the vault in Las Vegas. Really long story short. So does Army of Thieves prove or disprove this theory? It does neither. Instead it hints that the time loop theory might be true. At one point in the movie Sebastian wakes up from yet another nightmare about being killed by zombies and Korina Dominguez brings up the fact it might be a prophetic dream. While in the same scene it's brought up that Sebastian could've just had a dream, there is no firm answer on if he just had a dream or saw his death. If his dream wasn't just a dream it lends weight to the time loop theory.

Some people have brought up that it's odd for Ludwig Dieter to get his own spin-off. It is a different genre than the original movie and Ludwig wasn't that interesting in the original to some. I liked Ludwig, but I was confused when a prequel involving him was announced. The final product is a lot better than I had initially imagined. It never took itself too seriously and played with the tropes of a heist movie.

I am glad to see Nathalie Emmanuel (who plays Gwendoline Starr) getting more work. The first time I remember seeing her was as Missandei on Game of Thrones. It's always good to see a talented actor getting more work. Unlike that show, she is able to become an action star in this film. While the majority of time she doesn't get physical, there are a few sequences that show her kicking butt and taking names.

The safes that Sebastian, Gwendoline, and gang are after were created by Hans Wagner who based them off of Richard Wagner’s Ring Cycle. I had a big nerd moment when I instantly recognized the Ring Cycle as being linked to Lord of the Rings. Though, I admit, I am not too familiar with the Ring Cycle and only know it's been compared to Lord of the Rings.

I would recommend Army of Thieves to fans of Army of the Dead. I would also recommend Army of Thieves to those wanting a fun heist movie.