Zach Snyder's "Army Of The Dead" !!! ~~~!!!!
It's two of your favorite genres in one! It's a zombie apocalypse movie! It's a casino heist movie! It's a casino heist movie set during a zombie apocalypse! This is so great. If you don't love this, you should probably contact your doctor right now.
(...)
Aside from Dave Bautista, the movie has good ensemble cast with lots of likeable characters. Like a zombie version of Ocean's Eleven, our protagonists are a crew of experts assembled to get a job done. Dieter, a young German safecracker. (...)
Army of Thieves arrived on Netflix recently. It's a prequel to Army Of The Dead, centered around the German safecracker. I really liked this. Dieter was one of the most fun characters in Army Of The Dead, and Army Of Thieves gives us another chance to enjoy his goofy charm.
Sebastian Schlencht-Wohnert (Ludwig Dieter is an alias that he picks up later in the film...) is a lonely man leading a bleak, bland existence. He works as a bank teller in Munich. He buys the same coffee at the same shop at the same time every morning. He has one true passion: safes. He posts safecracking and lockpicking videos on YouTube. In particular, Sebastian is fascinated by a group of four legendary safes built by a 19th century master craftsman named Hans Wagner. The safes are named after the works of Richard Wagner: Das Rheingold, Die Walkure, Siegfried, and Gotterdammerung.
The day uploading a video about Hans Wagner and his legendary safes, he is thrilled to discover that one (1) person has watched his video! This is incredibly exciting for Sebastian, because nobody has ever actually viewed one of his videos before. What's more, his new fan has sent him an invitation to come prove his skills at a safecracking contest. He goes. And there he meets Gwendoline, the mysterious and enchanting woman who would change his life. Gwendoline is an international thief, and she has a plan to find and rob each one of the Wagner safes. All she needs is someone with Sebastian's skills. He is not a criminal, but the chance to experience the Wagner safes in person, plus the prospect of another soul-crushing day at the bank, are enough to lure him in.
This is a fun blend of comedy, action, and adventure. It stands on its own, you don't have to see Army Of The Dead for this to make sense. (The Las Vegas zombie outbreak in Army Of The Dead is referenced in news clips and mentioned in passing a couple of times, but that's about it. And in AOTD, the Gotterdammerung safe is the target of their heist, and the reason Dieter is recruited to the team.)
Matthias Schweighofer stars as Sebastian, and he is also the director of the movie. He has directed a fair number of German productions. Nathalie Emmanuel (best known as Missandei in Game Of Thrones) stars as Gwendoline. I found this a really, genuinely fun movie.
-k