‘How to Rob a Bank’ Review: How Not to Make an Antiestablisment Film

"How to Rob a Bank" is an Amazon-MGM production that attempts to promote anti-capitalism through the lens of a bank robbery film. The story follows Ryan (Nicholas Hoult), a bank robber and social media influencer who posts videos on how to successfully rob banks. Ryan's crew includes his wife Emi (Anna Sawai), struggling parent Vince (Pete Davidson), and tech genius Hugo (Rhenzy Feliz).

They steal money but give most of it to charity, focusing on inspiring America to rob banks and break down the broken system. FBI Agent John West (John C. Reilly), on the other hand, works to catch these high-tech criminals, insisting that cops are good and not all in service of the rich and powerful. However, the film's portrayal of cops is hypocritical and serves to undermine its own message of anti-establishment.

Agent West claims that police protect the social fabric of America, but only when chaos is caused by poor people. The most ridiculous scene involves Agent West telling a young hacker that crime isn't cool, while ignoring his own family's tragic story. "How to Rob a Bank" is a hypocritical film that claims to have anti-establishment ideology but is in the pocket of a major corporation.

While it may have adopted the visual style of TikToks and video games, it fails to commit to its anti-capitalist message, instead turning it into escapism while feeding viewers reasons to doubt all cops. The film's title appears to have been borrowed from "How to Blow Up a Pipeline," a film that advocates for eco-terrorism as a moral and ethical necessity, but it lacks the same principles.

Overall, "How to Rob a Bank" is a disappointing genre film that pretends to have meaning while ultimately reinforcing the very system it claims to critique.