Back in May 2021, Netflix released a pretty fun zombie action flick entitled Army of the Dead. Directed by Zack Snyder, the film, while it received mixed reviews from critics, was popular enough among audiences to convince Netflix to develop a franchise, starting with the prequel, Army of Thieves, centered around a fan-favorite character from the original film, Ludwig Dieter aka Sebastian Schlencht-Wohnert.
The film stars Matthias Schweighofer, who portrayed Dieter in Army of the Dead and also directs the prequel. The movie, due to both his performance and direction, nearly matches and even comes close to surpassing its predecessor.
Dieter is just as funny and endearing as he was in the first film, if not even more so, and it’s pretty rewarding to see how he came to become the master safecracker that we were introduced to in Snyder’s movie, and even where he got the nickname, Ludwig Dieter from. All of this is due to Schweighofer, who is perfectly funny when he needs to be (he has one particular scream throughout the movie that is sure to get howling laughs out of those who enjoyed the first film, like myself), and perfectly relatable as well.
Schweighofer works well off the characters he is surrounded by, the thieves he has been assigned to work with to pull off a heist. Dieter’s fish-out-of-water persona and confusion at everything that is happening around him gels perfectly with his own partners’ no-nonsense mentality, and makes for some really good comedy whenever they share the screen.
On top of that, however, Schweighofer proves his promise as a director, as the action sequences are engaging due in part to his camerawork and the way he shows the world of safecracking is very inventive and shows that he has potential behind the camera. At points, it does feel like Snyder came back to direct this film (he did come back to produce and do the story), based on how similar some scenes seem to the first film, but Schweighofer manages to make his own style distinct, so it definitely stands out.
One weird (and kind of funny) thing I don’t understand, however, is how everybody just goes about their normal lives when this is supposed to be taking place in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. I mean, it’s referenced a few times in the movie, but for the most part, everyone just acts like it’s just another day at the office.
However, since the zombie apocalypse isn’t the main focus this time around, this can easily be forgiven when you remember that what you’re supposed to be watching is a heist movie. As far as heist movies go, this is a pretty darn good one. If you’re a fan of heist films, Ludwig Dieter, and Army of the Dead as a whole, I would say this is definitely a movie to check out.
It makes me wonder if there are any more prequels in the works for characters from the first Army of the Dead flick, because while Dieter was definitely a standout character, and sequels are being planned, I would say that that whole first film was full of standout characters whose lives before a zombie outbreak would make for very entertaining movies.
