Army of Thieves
Matthias Schweighofer has done an amazing job with this prequel, I found myself wanting to see more with each safe. The story of Hans Wagner after losing his family putting all his attention and soul into the makings of the four safes was beautifully illustrated and directed.
Ludwig Dieter was such an isolated person and you could strangely always see that even from the first film, Army of The Dead, but to think he just wanted someone to recognize his skills, and he sure made the impression at the safe’s competition. Whilst the former champion is anxious and using every technique in the book on unlocking a safe, Dieter on the other hand marvels and just by touching the safe understands the amount of work that’s been put into these safes, through that understanding unlocks the safe like it were nothing.
That introduction has marvelously portrayed as you not only understood what drives Dieter but we as the audience also got to understand just how passionate Dieter is about safes, his not someone who just wants to unlock them but he comprehends the details the maker put into them to the littlest detail.
Gwendoline on the other hand is a complex character, she ran away from her parents because of things they did to amass their wealth but ends up doing the same thing just taking a more personal approach to it and I never got to understand her obsession with the four safes, unlike Brad who only wanted the contents inside, she also wanted the money inside but later changes to not only the contents but probably trying to recognize a dream of opening all four safes that were said to be impossible.
The stories of Brunhilde are truly a fairytale, one could almost cry just listening to them, though there are many different stories about Brunhilde, Dieter’s recollection is one of the simplest to understand versions I’ve heard. No wonder it’s one of the most famous German fairytales, and if you listen closely you’ll see that the story of Brunhilde, Matthias, and Gwendoline are foreshadowing what was to happen between the two.
Delacroix is the exact example of a “stubborn” man and sure I understand his pain, he was shot in the buttock which I can only imagine being excruciatingly painful but the man needs to listen to others opinions more, or is that some of the side effect of having only having one buttock? lol… I had a lot of fun with the character and I enjoyed seeing him on the screen every time.