How to Rob a Bank Review: David Leitch Turns Modern Frustration Into Pure Heist Gold
"When the rich rob the poor it is called business. When the poor fight back it is called violence." – Mark Twain
We can often surmise from fictional storytelling what the political climate was like when a specific story was written, what issues occupied the minds of everyday people during that time, and what they hoped for the future.
The story of Robin Hood, for example, originates from the late 13th or early 14th century through oral tradition before being written down in the late 1300s and 1400s. It was in the late 14th and 15th centuries that stories like A Gest of Robyn Hode and Robin Hood and the Monk began giving us a grittier, more revealing snapshot of medieval England than the polished Disney or Hollywood versions offer.
So what could a future historian learn about medieval England solely from these stories in regards to the political climate, anxieties, and hopes of the era?
1. The Political Climate: Systemic Corruption, Not a Broken Monarchy
• Distrust of Local Officials: In the original stories, the villains are not King John or Prince John (those details were added centuries later). The enemies are local law enforcement and wealthy clergymen—specifically the Sheriff of Nottingham and corrupt abbots. This reflects a society where the average person felt choked by localized, unchecked bureaucracy and predatory tax collectors.
• Faith in the Distant Crown: Despite hating the local government, the original Robin Hood is fiercely loyal to the King. This reveals a common medieval mindset: everyday people still believed in the core ideal of the nation and the throne, convincing themselves that their suffering was solely the fault of corrupt middle-men and greedy institutions twisting the system for their own gain.
2. Fears and Anxieties: Predatory Debt and Weaponized Law
• The Fear of Losing Everything to Debt: A major plot point in A Gest of Robyn Hode involves Robin helping a poor knight whose land is about to be seized by a greedy abbot over a loan. This points to a massive real-world anxiety of the 14th and 15th centuries: the rise of predatory lending, crushing taxes (like the ones that sparked the Peasants' Revolt of 1381), and a legal system rigged to strip everyday people of their property. The Peasants’ Revolt of 1381 is the basis of Paul Greengrass’ The Uprising, which explicitly connects that real historical rebellion to the origin of the Robin Hood legend.
• Distrust of the Institutional Church: While the original Robin Hood is deeply religious and devoted to the Virgin Mary, he violently robs rich monks and bishops. This shows a society caught in a spiritual tension—devoutly Christian, yet deeply resentful of the Catholic Church’s massive wealth, land hoarding, and hypocrisy.
• The Vulnerability of Travel: The texts treat the highway and the deep woods as lawless, terrifying places where ambush is normal. It reflects a world with weak infrastructure and zero reliable policing outside of walled towns.
3. Hopes and Desires: Radical Fairness and Meritocracy
• A Rising "Middle Class" Identity: Originally, Robin wasn't a disenfranchised nobleman (like Kevin Costner or Russell Crowe); he was a yeoman—a free, working-class commoner who owned a bit of land or worked as a skilled tradesman. The stories reflect the hopes of a newly emerging working class (post-Black Death, when labor became more valuable) that wanted respect, autonomy, and a seat at the table.
• Street-Level Justice: Noticeably, the original Robin Hood does not "rob from the rich to give to the poor" as a blanket rule. He robs corrupt officials and wealthy clergy, and he gives to those who have been cheated by the system (like the indebted knight) or who show genuine honesty. The fantasy wasn't necessarily wealth redistribution; it was accountability. People longed for a world where bullies in positions of power actually faced consequences.
• Brotherhood Outside the Hierarchy: Medieval society was rigidly divided by birthright. Greenwood—the forest—represented a utopian space where class didn't matter, where a yeoman could outsmart a sheriff, dine like a king, and live by a code of loyalty and merit rather than bloodline.
Just as medieval audiences projected their anxieties about corrupt sheriffs, predatory debt, and rigged institutions onto an outlaw in the woods, modern heist movies like How to Rob a Bank act as a pressure valve for contemporary frustrations—whether that’s corporate greed, economic inequality, surveillance, or feeling powerless against massive financial institutions. The target changes from a corrupt abbot’s strongbox to a modern bank vault, but the underlying cultural desire to see a clever underdog beat a rigged system remains the exact same. And this is perhaps the greatest tragedy of the film. However funny and action-focused it may be, it still reflects anxieties remarkably similar to those that birthed Robin Hood centuries ago. So much has changed, and yet so little has.
Perhaps this is all a bit too in-depth for an action comedy, but there’s no denying that the film explores these themes, even if only at a surface level. It’s what fuels the entire plot and what connects us as the audience to the main characters’ ultimate goals. Taking up bank robbery is an extreme reaction, yet in a world where corruption feels rampant and seemingly unchecked, something as drastic as armed robbery doesn’t feel like quite the overreaction it once might have.
What sets the story firmly in the modern era is its use of internet popularity. Online clout is so powerful it is practically its own currency—one that buys you plenty if, like money, you have enough of it. With a large enough following, viewership translates into funding, loyalty, and a massive platform to broadcast whatever message you want to bring to light. In the case of “The Hungry Wolf” and his crew, that message is about punishing those who abuse the poor and middle class, widening the gap between everyday people and a life of basic comfort, systemic dependability, and genuine happiness. Their goal is to take the very thing the elite covet most, rip it from their cold, calculating, greedy hands, and harness the will of the people to ensure their escape and anonymity from the law. It is a dynamic remarkably similar to the Great Depression era of John Dillinger, who won over struggling Americans by targeting the banks ruining their lives—earning him the public sympathy and cover he needed to stay out of prison.
Complicating the situation even further is the moral dilemma facing the federal agents on the case—regular, working-class Americans who have sworn an oath to uphold the law. The lead agent in pursuit, played emphatically and hilariously by John C. Reilly, finds himself chasing culprits whose cause he actually relates to and sympathizes with. Meanwhile, the thieves have to wrestle with where to draw the line when fighting for their freedom against officers who are simply doing their jobs. Ultimately, it is a dynamic where the puppeteers remain safely out of harm's way while the puppets are left to fight and suffer—making the film's core fantasy all about closing that gap between the untouchable elite and everyone else.
Interestingly, the film also touches on modern technology—not just as a tool for criminal activity, but as a vehicle for duplicitous government overreach. This is where Zoë Kravitz’s character enters the frame as the architect of an algorithm-turned-app. She is punished for creating something labeled a potential weapon, yet the government hypocritically jumps at the chance to use that very same tech for its own gain. It is another moral gray area, leaving us with no easy answers on how to move forward with this kind of power at our fingertips.
Leading this brigade of masked criminals is Nicholas Hoult, an everyman turned professional bank robber pushed over the edge by modern healthcare. Its tactless, cold, and manipulative policies led to a tragedy in his life, setting him down a path he not only cannot return from, but has zero desire to. He has been wronged, and so has his crew—each for their own varying reasons, which is what bonds them and drives them to carry out such brazen acts of defiance and thievery. Hoult easily plays the charismatic leading man for much of the runtime, yet never at the expense of his character’s deeper motivations. He embodies this man’s pain with such conviction that you fully believe anyone could be pushed to such extremes.
A pleasant surprise is Pete Davidson as one of Hoult’s closest affiliates and friends, a guy who is fully ride-or-die for their cause. He naturally brings much of the humor to the story, but he isn’t without his own moments of tender humanity and tragic outcomes—all of which Davidson embraces with bravado and a remarkable amount of maturity we haven’t seen from him yet. This character feels like a new chapter in the acting era of Pete Davidson, and it leaves me genuinely wondering what else he can do.
At the helm—and the biggest draw to see this movie—is director David Leitch, who has captained such efforts as Atomic Blonde, The Fall Guy, and Bullet Train. His production company, 87North, is the ultimate signal that the stunts will be top-shelf, and as his filmography grows, so too does his command over everything happening between the punches. We already expect the action choreography to be fantastic, and it certainly delivers, yet Leitch continues to prove himself as a much more well-rounded filmmaker beyond those set pieces. He balances the kinetic energy with sharp comedic timing, genuine emotional stakes, and a confident handle on tone—turning what could have been a hollow spectacle into a story that actually resonates.
Ultimately, How to Rob a Bank succeeds because it never lets its heavier subtext weigh down the sheer fun of the ride. Under David Leitch’s confident direction, with a cast firing on all cylinders, the film delivers all the sharp laughs and bone-crunching action you could ask for. Yet long after the smoke clears and the credits roll, it is those familiar, centuries-old anxieties that linger. We may no longer be hiding in Sherwood Forest, and the targets may look a little different, but the thrill of watching a clever underdog outsmart a rigged system remains undefeated.
Rated R For: language, some violence and brief drug use
Runtime: 122 minutes
After Credits Scene: No
Genre: Action, Comedy, Crime
Starring: Nicholas Hoult, Zoë Kravitz, Pete Davidson, John C. Reilly
Directed By: David Leitch
Out of 10
Story: 9/ Acting: 8.5/ Directing: 9/ Visuals: 9
OVERALL: 8.5/10
Buy to Own: Yes.
Check out the trailer below:
