The prequel to 'Army of the Dead' chronicles the life of the safecracker, Ludwig Dieter, before he joins Scott's heist team in the middle of a zombie apocalypse.
'Army of Thieves' is the much-anticipated prequel to Zack Snyder's 'Army of the Dead.' It tells the story of Sebastian and how he became Ludwig Dieter, the genius safe cracker who opened the Götterdämmerung in the 'Army of the Dead.'
Matthias Schweighöfer stars and directs the prequel. Aside from the stylish and fun-filled execution, Schweighöfer also did a great job making the character more lovable.
Here is everything that happened in 'Army of Thieves.'
Sebastian (Matthias Schweighöfer), is a mild-mannered bank employee bored of his monotonous life. He starts creating YouTube videos about safecracking, but his channel is not hitting off. Sebastian idolizes Hans Wagner (Christian Steyer), a genius locksmith and creator of legendary safes.
One day, a mysterious person commented on Sebastian's video, telling him to test his safecracking skills in an underground contest. Sebastian joins and ends up winning the competition.
Soon, Gwendoline (Nathalie Emmanuel) approaches him with a life-changing offer. She offers him to join her heist team, and lets him meet the other members, getaway driver Rolph (Guz Khan), master hacker Korina (Ruby O. Fee), and the “real-life action hero” Alexis AKA Brad Cage (Stuart Martin).
Alexis is obsessed with Brad Pitt and Johnny Cage and decides to change his moniker to the combination of the names of his two favorite Hollywood actors.
After their previous safecracker got arrested, the team needed to bring Sebastian's expertise. Most importantly, they need him because their targets are Wagner’s first three safes — the Rheingold, the Valkyrie, and the Siegfried.
Bly Tanaka (Hiroyuki Sanada) owns all of these safes. Tanaka is the billionaire from 'Army of The Dead,' who recruited Scott Ward (Dave Batista) to infiltrate a zombie-stricken Las Vegas.
Sebastian's character is a stark contrast to his teammates. He is naive and gets scared easily. Throughout the film, we see Sebastian constantly dreaming about getting attacked by zombies. It's a premonition of what is about to happen to him in 'Army of The Dead.' There are plenty of easter eggs that tie the prequel to the zombie heist movie.
The team's first target is the Rheingold safe, hidden at a trade union in Paris, France. The team pulled the heist with ease, and Sebastian was happy and honored to crack Wagner's safe.
But things were more difficult for their second target, the Valkyrie. The Valkyrie is in a bank in Prague, Czech Republic. Interpol agents Delacroix (Jonathan Cohen) and Beatrix (Noémie Nakai) have been haunting the team for a while now.
Delacroix theorizes that the robbers will take advantage of the current zombie apocalypse and attack while authorities are busy. He is correct. The heist team now prepares to get their hands on their second target. Sebastian admits that the Valkyrie will be much harder to crack, and he needs more time to open it.
To buy Sebastian more time, Brad puts on Nixon masks and stages a robbery in the bank. He holds everyone hostage to divert the attention of people while Sebastian tries to open the safe. After a thrilling sequence, Sebastian manages to open the lock, and he and Gwendoline grab as much money as they can.
They hurry to flee the place, but the police start to arrive. In a cunning move, Brad shoves Sebastian out of the getaway vehicle. Abandoned, Sebastian steals a bike and tries his best to evade getting captured by the police.
Gwendoline gets angry at Alexis and decides to quit her relationship with him and leave the team. Korina follows Gwendoline.
Later, they meet Sebastian in his home and convince him to join on their third heist, the Siegfried safe at a casino in St. Moritz, Switzerland.
By far, this is the hardest safe to crack among the three.
Gwendoline, Korina, and Siegfried dupe the casino into believing that they are the Interpol. They instructed them to move the safe earlier than scheduled. When the actual Interpol arrives, the safe is already gone.
But before they can complete the mission, Korina gets arrested and forced to betray her teammates in exchange for her brother's safety.
Brad and Rolph, also try to go after Sebastian and Gwendoline.
After a confrontation, Gwendoline leaves him handcuffed at the back of the armored car, where Interpol later finds him.
For a second, we thought that Gwendoline and Sebastian would make it. They arrive at a pier where a getaway boat is waiting for them. But before they can leave, Delacroix appears and points a gun at them
Gwendoline convinces the Interpol agent to let Sebastian go and take her instead. After all, it was her and Brad that he wants. Delacroix agrees, and the heartbroken Sebastian sails away to safety. Throughout the film, Gwendoline and Sebastian develop an air of romance. They could have started a new life together if only Delacroix did not arrive.
After the incident, Sebastian immigrates to the US and changes his name to Ludwig Dieter. He sets up a new shop called Gwendoline’s SAFE & LOCK CO." The film ends with a scene from 'Army of the Dead.' Ward and Maria Cruz (Ana de la Reguera) visit and recruit him for their zombie heist mission in Las Vegas. His job is to open the Götterdämmerung, the fourth and final safe that Hans Wagner created.
In 'Army of the Dead' Dieter sacrifices himself to protect Vanderohe (Omari Hardwick). The last time we see him is when Zeus, the alpha zombie, attacks him as he closes the vault door to keep Vanderohe safe. We did not see his dead body, so there might be a chance that he is still alive.
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