Netflix is not just the most profitable commodity in the OTT battles, but it also has the most savvy and astute marketing team in place. What other motivation could they have for pulling off the remarkable feat of sprawling out a business that isn’t even 6 months old? Clearly, this isn’t an afterthought or something devised after Zack Snyder’s zippy zombie film ‘Army of the Dead.’ In reality, ‘Army of Thieves’ may be Netflix SEO-ing its content so that people who watch one of the films may wind up watching the other.

The genius also resides in the fact that the Netflix executives are well aware of how bankable Zack Snyder’s name has become in recent years. Not only have his devoted followers single-handedly persuaded one of the biggest studios to make a reworked version of one of the biggest superhero movies of all time, but they’ve also spawned a cult around one of his underwhelming superhero endeavors.

In terms of Army of Thieves, the prequel takes place nearly six years before America was overrun by zombies, and a party led by Daddy-Bautista was compelled to battle the Army of the Dead. Dieter (played by Matthias Schweighöfer, who also serves as director) is a chatty young nerd who plays a major role in Snyder’s film. The rockstar safecracker was a clumsy moron who provided much-needed comic relief in an otherwise melancholy and depressing picture.

In Army of Thieves, he is reintroduced as Sebastian Dieter, whose last name is unpronounceable. He still dresses like a draper and is often apprehensive in social situations. His more intriguing conversational demeanor is likewise reintroduced to us first through a YouTube video. He happily speaks of Hans Wagner, the best locksmith who ever lived, and the four safes he created based on Richard Wagner’s symphonic operatic symphony. Except no one is listening or observing.

The film immerses us in his lonely, isolated life. His everyday routine includes cooking a sandwich for lunch before walking out to a nearby store for a coffee and his favorite muffin. He then goes to work as a bank teller, where he eats his lunch alone before returning to his lonely apartment.

The monotony is broken, however, when his video receives its first view and a somewhat mysterious message, which he decides to investigate. Before meeting Gwendoline, he finds himself in a peculiar crack-the-safe competition, which he obviously excels at (Nathalie Emmanuel). She turns out to be a jewel thief who has been looking for Sebastian for quite some time.

She reveals her intention to carry out a theft on all three of Wagner’s vaults (the fourth we all know of from the sequel). And, despite the danger, Sebastian does not manage to say no. Gwendoline then offers him a position on the squad as their official safe-cracker and introduces him to the other three people who will assist them in this endeavor.

However, there is one caveat. Because the police and Interpol are preoccupied with the early stages of the Zombie apocalypse, the crew must carry out the heists in rapid succession. They believe they are immune because the squad must carry them out in Europe. Only to discover that they are being pursued by French Interpol investigator Delacroix (Jonathan Cohen). His motivations are not only to discover the culprits, but also to pursue a personal vendetta against the ostensible squad leader, Brad Cage (Stuart Martin).

The rest of the picture, despite being extremely familiar, works entirely within its limited framework. Matthias Schweighöfer deserves credit for endowing Sebastian with a lovable aspect that is difficult to remove. The actor/director is clearly aiming for a gentler and more subversive male protagonist at the heart of the robbery thriller. Unlike other films of its genre, it does not capitalize on its charismatic macho-man persona. In reality, it ensures that similarities be drawn between the two extremities of the masculine spectrum.

However, its self-reflective narrative convenience stands out like a sore thumb. After the first couple of viewings, the ‘it’s a movie’ tone that co-writers Zack Snyder and Shay Hatten are trying for doesn’t sit right. It also doesn’t help that the rest of the cast is based on a very thin thread of character development.

Even if I didn’t personally enjoy Snyder’s film, the director clearly understands how to make you care about at least one of his characters. He also takes his time plotting the stakes and character motives. While we are constantly aware that Sebastian’s aim is never unlawful, it appears that almost everyone else is on dicy grounds. It’s never made clear why the squad was attempting to rob these safes in the first place, or why Gwendoline’s shaky narrative was so crucial here.

Having said that, I was relieved that filmmaker Matthias Schweighöfer did not follow in Snyder’s lens-blurring footsteps. His film is shot in a very simple and cheerful tone, with visual signals that are always light and not excessive. Although it is evident that he is not a skilled filmmaker, he manages to tell Dieter’s genesis story credit. The film’s main flaw, in my opinion, is its inability to elicit a sense of suspense in the minds of the audience. Especially when you need to balance the more humanistic components with something you guarantee in huge, bold letters.