I have Covid-19, and am confined to quarters. So with the big screen out of reach, time to catch up on some streaming films. New on Netflix is "Army of Thieves", a quirky prequel, of sorts, to Zac Snyder's "Army of the Dead".
Positives:
Negatives:
Summary Thoughts on "Army of Thieves": Sometimes a little movie appears that surprises and delights you, and this was one of those for me. It's not big and it's not clever. But it is very nicely made, thoroughly entertained me and was - for me - way better than its source movie. A recommended watch on Netflix.
(For the full graphical review, check out the #onemannsmovies written/video reviews online. Thanks.)
Positives:
- I really wasn't expecting much from this offering. For me, the character of Dieter in "Army of the Dead" was an annoyingly quirky comedy character in a zombie-actioner that you just wanted to punch in the face.... repeatedly. But in contrast, this Dieter-centric film is deliberately quirky throughout and it just all worked for me. Under his own direction, Schweighöfer's Sebastian/Dieter becomes a genuinely quirky, lovelorn and loveable loser that you want to root for.
- The look and feel of the film is utterly glorious. The wonderful cinematography by Bernhard Jasper makes the introduction to the European locations feel Bond-like and the combination of Production Design and Special Effects make the safe-cracking scenes tense, dynamic and beautiful to watch. It's all nicely rounded off by a quirky Steve Mazzaro / Hans Zimmer score.
- Shay Hatten's script delivers a nice balance of action and exposition. It actually - shock horror - takes time to flesh out some character behind the generic heist-movie stereotypes. Setting the movie in the same timeline as the emerging Nevada zombie-apocalypse as "Army of the Dead" is neat: (although those expecting extensive zombie-action will feel short-changed). And having the Las Vegas safe as the mythical Götterdämmerung is a nice touch. Above all - "SURPRISE!!!" - the script surpassed the essential six-laughs test.
- The acting is above par, with Schweighöfer putting in a fabulous turn and the stunningly beautiful Nathalie Emmanuel (best known for being Ramsey in the Fast and Furious series) gets to be a lot more than mere window-dressing here. Stuart Martin is notable here for looking astonishingly like Hugh Jackman.... I mean, really, they could be twins.
Negatives:
- I mean, honestly, there are more holes in this story than a St Moritz swiss-cheese. Why would all of the safes, owned by different private institutions, be being "decommissioned" due to a Zombie outbreak on the other side of the world? Can the Interpol team really be that incompetent? And however clever he is, I don't buy that you can open safes like that!
- Although I liked the balance of the script overall, the story is pretty simplistic and linear.
Summary Thoughts on "Army of Thieves": Sometimes a little movie appears that surprises and delights you, and this was one of those for me. It's not big and it's not clever. But it is very nicely made, thoroughly entertained me and was - for me - way better than its source movie. A recommended watch on Netflix.
(For the full graphical review, check out the #onemannsmovies written/video reviews online. Thanks.)