“How to Rob a Bank” Review

“How to Rob a Bank,” the new action-comedy from director David Leitch (“The Fall Guy,” “Bullet Train”), is a heist film for the brainrot generation, with a heavy reliance on juvenile style to distract from its superficial characters, themes and philosophy. While the film is certainly entertaining, it thinks it’s more insightful than it actually is, rendering what could be a lighthearted crime caper into an eye-rolling lecture about unjust economics.

Ryan (Nicholas Hoult) is the wolf-masked leader of a group of thieves, made up of his wife, his ex-military best friend, and a genius hacker. While their commitment to robbing small and mid-size banks is not unique, what separates this group is that they stream all of their heists across social media in the hopes of building a following and inspiring copycats, teaching them the dos and don’ts of a successful robbery.

As the group’s social media following passes 900 million, a dedicated FBI Agent (John C. Reilly) recruits his own hacker, Reagan Gardner (Zöe Kravitz), to help track the thieves down through analysis of their social media posts. Delving deeper into the group’s videos, they start to understand the point of view of these criminals and sympathize with their goals.

Much of the film’s struggles begin with a lack of focus: whose story is this? Who is the main character? If it’s Ryan, why doesn’t he have any depth or personality? If it’s the unlikely investigative duo of Agent West and Reagan, why do they disappear for long stretches at a time? In their effort to introduce so many different characters, the filmmakers forget to develop any of them. In lieu of dimensionality, each of the thieves is given a single tragedy that motivates them, engineered to generate audience sympathy. Through no fault of the actors, the characters are all forgettable and uninteresting.

Writer Mark Bianculli and director David Leitch have no interest in challenging the thieves’ philosophy or interrogating any possible downside to a life of crime in the face of economic inequality. Myriad opportunities are presented to dramatically question the main characters, whether it’s morally ambivalent investigators or a rash of copycats across the country, but they all come to naught. The filmmakers, much like the streaming audience for these tech-savvy thieves, buy unambiguously into the hero worship of these would-be Robin Hoods. The thieves are good, the banks are evil and there’s no need for any further emotional or philosophical nuance even as innocent bystanders continue to be harmed during each heist.

“How to Rob a Bank” could be a fitting conclusion to an unofficial trilogy of like-minded populist crime films this year, following “Crime 101” and “How to Make a Killing.” All of these films grapple with the idea that maybe, in the face of an unjust capitalist system that shamelessly exploits the vulnerable and protects the powerful, a life of crime is not only excusable but admirable. Even as those previous two films possess their own flaws, this one outdoes them in its shallow messaging and one-dimensional characters. “How to Rob a Bank” is all style and no substance, just like the roving band of criminals it so vapidly portrays.

“How to Rob a Bank” Directed by David Leitch. Written by Mark Bianculli. Starring Nicholas Hoult, Zoë Kravitz, Anna Sawai, Rhenzy Feliz, Pete Davidson and John C. Reilly. Running Time: 122 Minutes. Genres: Action, Comedy, Crime, Thriller. Rated R for language, some violence and brief drug use.