Army Of Thieves a fun little heist flick, however, fans of its zombie apocalypse sequel will be disappointed in the lack of the undead. Check out the details in my parents guide movie review.
Netflix’s Army Of Thieves drops on the streaming service this Friday, October 29th. The film is the prequel to the hit Army Of The Dead and is also written by the genius of his craft, Zack Snyder. Unlike its predessor, Army of Thieves is a fun heist flick which delves into the life of bank teller Dieter, a fan favorite of Army Of The Dead. Check out all the details in my parents guide movie review.
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Army Of Thieves Quotes
Army Of Thieves Parents Guide
In this prequel to “Army of the Dead,” a mysterious woman recruits bank teller Dieter to assist in a heist of impossible-to-crack safes across Europe.
Army Of Thieves Age Appropriate Parents Guide
Let’s take a look at what parents need to know before letting their kids watch Army of Thieves.
Language: Army Of Thieves contains harsh language with profanity used throughout. Lookout words include: f*ck, sh*t, a**h*le, d*ckhead, p*&&y, b*stard, screw, hell and more.
Mature Content: Other than the language, the other big lookout in this film is the violent content. The film centers around a heist plot, so there is plenty of theft shown, including car theft and cracking safes. It even contains a scene which shows an adolescent taking part in robbery. There are scenes where characters fight in hand to hand combat, shooting of guns, and the deaths of characters due to the violence. While the sequel to this film is based on a zombie apocolypse, this film shows very little of the zombies but it does give glimpses of the undead attacking characters.
Overall Thoughts
Army Of Thieves takes place 6 years before its predecessor, Army Of The Dead, and centers around safecracker Ludwig Dieter, played by Matthias Schweighöfer, who also directed the film. I am always in awe of an actor/director’s ability to focus on both when making a film, as it seems almost impossible to give their full attention and dedication to one or the other. Schweighöfer has seemed to master both in Army Of Thieves. He is clearly the best part of the film as Dieter, the awkward and naive bank teller, with a brilliant ability to crack the most complicated safes in the world. One would think Schweighöfer was a fan of safecracking before making this film, with the continuous shots of the interworking of the safe’s in the film. This little added gem really played well in the movie and furthered the ‘heist’ excitement in this caper flick.
While Schweighöfer was the highlight of the film, the rest of the cast deserve their accolades as well; particularly costar Nathalie Emmanuel, who plays Dieter’s crush, Gwen. Emmanuel does a stand-up job sharing the screen with Schweighöfer and it was apparent the two have great chemistry together, which has this author wondering why this chemistry wasn’t utilized more so in the film. I understand this film was not going for the romantic theme, but it seems like a missed opportunity.
For the Army Of The Dead fans who are excited about this prequel, you have been prewarned that Army Of Thieves is vastly different from its predecessor. While Army Of The Dead was full of action, zombies, and heart-pounding drama, Army Of Thieves has a totally different feel. Think more on the lines of Netflix’s Lupin, a true cat and mouse heist series, speckled with impending horror, as almost a tease in some respects. Fans of the zombie apocalypse film may be disappointed by this prequel, which, while focusing on an intriguing character from the first film, falls short of providing the zombie moments that made Army Of The Dead so enjoyable.
I could see some more prequels in the future, ones that focus on different characters from Army Of The Dead in an attempt to provide backstories that help make more sense out of it. I, for one, spent much of Army Of Thieves trying to remember exactly what happened in Army Of The Dead so I could place the characters. It wasn’t until the end that it made sense. If they plan on squeezing as much life out of this franchise as possible, it may be a good idea to start thinking about various avenues in which they could approach this. Lore is very important if they want it to stick out amongst the rabble of similar movies in the genre, and with so many ways they could go, it will be very interesting to see what transpires.
