Army of Thieves review: A heist prequel sans zombies and adventure

What is it about franchises that have enthralled us as an audience since time immemorial? The taste for a backstory or a continuation of something we have adored on the screen for the first time, yes?. This is what you’d expect from Netflix’s ‘Army of Thieves’, prequel to Zack Snyder’s ‘Army of the Dead’ in which a band of mercenaries try to loot a history-laden secret safe in a zombie-infested casino in Los Angeles as the world collapses around them. Sadly, Matthias Schweighöfer’s prequel doesn’t have the same punch and no zombies too.

'Army of Thieves' focuses on one central character, Ludwig Dieter, the German safecracker who opened the Götterdämmerung safe in the zombie film. In the prequel, he tells the audience about the significance of the near-unbreakable safe Götterdämmerung and the three safes before it that have a mystical folk history. Created by Hans Wagner, a locksmith who couldn't cope with the death of his wife and son, makes four super safe as they take their names from the Ring Cycle: Das Rheingold, Die Walküre (The Valkyrie), Siegfried, and Götterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods). In his story, Ludwig reveals how Hans locked himself inside one and had it dropped to the bottom of the ocean, almost like a finality to the cycle and serving as a tomb for him.

Watch the trailer here:

Add WION as a Preferred Source

As Ludwig makes YouTube videos on these safes and their history, he is approached by Gwendoline (Nathalie Emmanuel) who is a criminal with Interpol. She recruits him to be a part of three heists -- and open those three safes he is so obsessed with. He immediately agrees.

The story then drifts attention from the zombie-infested world as zombies haven't taken over Europe yet and are still pretty much limited to the US and these heists are happening in the former. It then becomes a heisty catch and run film with police and Interpol chasing these fraudsters.

The characters are not as well rounded as those in 'Army of the Dead' and neither do they stick in the minds. The story too lacks the extra zing that the Zack Snyder film had.

Music is by Hans Zimmer and you feel it to the bones when the score starts to play to heighten the drama or the chase. The cinematography and layout is beautiful and scenic in every frame.

In all, the prequel fails to live up to the charm of Army of the Dead. Also, because you sorely miss the zombies. Matthias Schweighöfer could have possibly let Ludwig and his imagination run wild with his character as the story revolves around him instead of bore us with his safecracking skills that are pretty much boring.