‘How to Rob a Bank’ Review: David Leitch’s Flashy Heist Movie Draws Sharp Criticism

David Leitch’s Amazon-backed heist movie “How to Rob a Bank” arrives with big ambitions about modern rebellion, and critic Beatrice Loayza found little to admire. She describes an influencer-age caper that chases cultural relevance so hard it stumbles over itself. The film stars Nicholas Hoult and Zoë Kravitz, and her verdict on the whole package is blunt.

Loayza writes that the film “bids so desperately for cultural relevance, stylistic cool and progressive brownie points that it trips on its own painstaking efforts to astoundingly lame results.”

Loayza calls the movie aggressively annoying and tonally berserk. She argues it mostly reminds viewers that the revolution will not only be televised but also packaged digitally and spread by the lousiest algorithm. She also pictures a Deadpool who breaks the fourth wall to quack about his anti-capitalist revolt. Leitch directed one of the Deadpool films, along with Bullet Train and The Fall Guy, so the comparison lands close to home.

A Heist Told Through Wolf Masks

The premise follows its title closely. Four gunmen in wolf masks post YouTube-style explainer videos that teach a legion of online followers the tips and tricks of bank robbing. The Marx-reading Ryan, played by Hoult, leads the anonymous crew. The group posts footage of its real-life exploits, with pop-up graphics flashing over blown-out, GoPro-style shots of stick-ups and getaways.

The film opens with one of these movie-within-the-movie videos, and it sets the template. It walks through a heist as the crafty group designs it, starting with two minutes inside the bank. An anonymous 9/11 call about a mysterious package then diverts police attention, and the crew escapes quickly on motorbikes. Every robbery that follows plays out in the same twitchy, meta mode.

Loayza calls the result a bewildering, sloppily overloaded delivery of thrills. She labels the framing device rather ugly, and she treats the erratic opener as a preview of the problems ahead. In her view, the constant stylistic flourishes crowd out any real momentum.

Anti-Capitalist Messaging in a Garish Typeface

The crew does more than rob banks. The team strives to educate the masses in the art of bank robbing, even at the risk of getting caught. Their YouTube channel features direct-to-camera rants from their lupine avatars, who preach a screw-the-man gospel. The wolves urge their massive following to take back what the real fat cats and crooks have denied them.

Loayza finds one argument most convincing: the claim that the government is too broken and incompetent to act. She says that claim gives the crew a Trump-era rationale for its ambitions. Still, she points out that sympathetic bank robbers who flout a system protecting only the rich and powerful are hardly new. That idea underpins many a fine heist film, and the movie even includes a shoutout to Point Break in one scene.

The film’s problem, in her telling, lies in delivery rather than theme. It spells out its messaging in a garish Jokerman typeface, which leaves no room for subtlety. A familiar idea arrives with the volume turned all the way up.

The Cast Behind the Masks

Hoult’s Ryan shares the screen with a small crew, and each member has a clear role. Anna Sawai plays Emi, the wig-wearing decoy. Pete Davidson plays Vince, the backup muscle, and the crew also includes a hacker named Hugo. The headline of the review adds that Hoult and Kravitz “take their paychecks” in an emotionally turgid film.

That line frames the review’s central complaint. The talent is strong, and the setup carries obvious promise. Yet the critic sees a movie where flash replaces feeling, and the performers seem stuck inside a machine of graphics, masks and slogans.

Pete Davidson’s Path to the Crew

Davidson brings a high-profile résumé to the film. He joined “Saturday Night Live” at 20 as the youngest cast member and stayed for eight seasons. He took his final bow after Season 47. During that run he became a bona fide celebrity, drawing as much attention for his relationships with Ariana Grande, Kate Beckinsale and Kim Kardashian as for his stand-up, which includes a Netflix special.

His film career picked up speed right after his exit. In 2022, he starred in five movies, including the comedic horror indie Bodies Bodies Bodies and the Peacock romcom Meet Cute with Kaley Cuoco. His plans at that stage also included starring in, writing and producing Bupkis, a Peacock series based on his life. He also lined up a voice role in Paramount’s new Transformers installment.

A Loud Film in a Crowded Genre

“How to Rob a Bank” joins a long line of heist stories that cheer on outlaws who take on a rigged system. Leitch’s version bets on speed, graphics and social media style to set itself apart. By Loayza’s account, that bet backfires. The film’s own packaging buries its ideas, and the constant meta framing keeps the audience at a distance from the characters.

For viewers drawn by the cast and Leitch’s action pedigree, the review offers a clear warning. It describes a movie that mistakes noise for rebellion and flashy editing for emotion. Whether audiences agree with that verdict will become clear as the film reaches a wider crowd.