Manuel São Bento

"Army of the Dead was far from surpassing any expectations, but amid its several issues, Zack Snyder actually created a rather interesting post-apocalyptic world. With Matthias Schweighöfer taking on two of the most significant roles in filmmaking - director and leading actor - Army of Thieves feels more like a character spin-off than an actual prequel to an apparently new franchise. In that regard, the passionate protagonist, Dieter, is compelling enough to carry most of the stylized movie. Matthias delivers a fun, engaging performance that, unfortunately, is partially damaged by the excessive, dull jokes. The rest of the team follows incredibly cliche, forgettable archetypes, even though I can't really fault Nathalie Emmanuel's (F9) interpretation. Doing a prequel to an original zombie film with no zombies instantly drops the excitement levels, but the heist sequences are reasonably entertaining. Hans Zimmer and Steve Mazzaro's score definitely makes this movie feel much more epic and emotionally powerful than it truly is. Overall, Army of Thieves overextends its stay, and the safe-opening scenes get less and less exciting with a gradual lack of creativity taking over each robbery. In the end, I admit that this universe has some potential, but so far, I'm still waiting for a flick I can genuinely love and support." Rating: C