There are only so many bank-robbery movies that are really good and worth watching again. “How to Rob a Bank” is not one of them. It’s kind of entertaining; it’s got a good cast, but unfortunately it just doesn’t deliver the same way as some of the best bank-robbery movies do. And unfortunately, films like these are always going to be measured against some of the best bank robbery films such as Heat, The Town, Inside Man, and Point Break. It’s hard to measure up to these films, and while I found “How to Rob a Bank” engaging and not completely boring, especially with its social commentary and the use of social media along with influencers, it’s a very average movie at best. Plus, the biggest tragedy is wasting such a good cast. But here we are 30 years later, and movies are still trying to be Heat, the greatest crime movie ever.
The basic story, without giving away spoilers, is a group of bank robbers who film their exploits and help get Society on their side while they take down a big Bank that steals from the poor while making capitalism look evil. Their motives are not about money, but make no mistake, this is a revenge movie. Nicholas Hoult gives a good performance as the leader of this crafty bank robbery gang. Pete Davidson offers one of his best performances where he’s not that annoying when trying to be funny. Zoe Kravitz gives a good performance too, and as much as I love John C. Reilly, it’s hard to see him as the straight man or the gritty cop that’s going to take down this hardcore gang. But who really measures up to somebody like Al Pacino in the movie Heat? Like any crime movie, we’re supposed to connect with the bad guys; we’re supposed to understand their motives, and for the most part they do a good job getting the audience to sympathize with them. You don’t even hate the FBI that’s trying to take them down, although you will certainly hate the evil Bank CEO who is the true villain of the story.
Now what the movie really has going for it are good action scenes. The crime scenes make it a better-than-average action movie. How they do everything feels like an Ocean’s 11 movie, and we do sympathize with their motives. But the true motive is really taking a stab at greedy corporations who prey on the poor. We’re supposed to be excited about their revolution, and we’re even supposed to be excited about the cat-and-mouse game between the FBI and the robbers, but that’s the thing … it just doesn’t really deliver, and even when they refer to Point Break, I know for me, all I wanted to watch was Point Break, which is an amazing robbery movie with great performances. The biggest flaw of this film is that it tries to throw in every trope we’ve ever seen from a robbery movie and try to make it unique. The only thing it succeeds at is the use of social media and creating content, but that gets pretty annoying early on in the film. While it’s clever how they rob the banks and give instructions on the internet, it takes away from the emotional weight of these characters, especially in the cat-and-mouse game between the robbers and law enforcement. Every movie I mentioned before had a great antagonist and protagonist, and you easily sympathized with both. These characters are just largely forgettable. However, some genuine heartfelt scenes make the movie better.
I can’t say that I hate this movie, but I’m not going to tell you it’s worth seeing in the theater. This is an Amazon original movie and is better to watch for free on a streaming service. It’s entertaining enough that you won’t be bored for 2 hours, but not the kind of movie you will go back and watch compared to the four movies I mentioned before. However, with some good performances and amazing action, it’s not a terrible movie that you should avoid altogether. Watch it for free when you’re bored one afternoon; that’s my recommendation. This film also serves as a great lesson when it comes to telling a good crime story. The characters can’t be forgettable. The audience should easily connect to all of them and try to decide who is really the good guy and who’s really the bad guy. I think this film tries to do that, but bank robber influencers are just annoying no matter what their social cause may be. It’ll never be bank robber Surfers with a great philosophy that takes on the man or a bunch of career criminals trying to rob Fenway Park. And if there was ever one movie that can make you easily connect to the cop and the robber while easily sympathizing with both of their motives, then it is the movie Heat, when the antagonist and the protagonist sit down to have a cup of coffee and find a mutual respect for one another, knowing that they still have to play their game. The reason it’s easy to compare this film to great bank-robbery films is that those movies had the perfect template for good stories. This film is like a cheesy carbon copy that doesn’t measure up. It tries too hard to be something it’s not…Heat, Point Break, and Inside Man. But hey, B-quality movies don’t have to be great to be fun. That’s what “How to Rob a Bank” really is…a B-quality crime movie!
