How to Rob a Bank Review – David Leitch’s Gen-Z Point Break Is a Blast for an Hour — Then It Robs Itself

What if Point Break is reworked from a story about funding freedom to support the bank robbers’ passion for chasing waves, to a radical group whose mission is leaning more on the anti-establishment uprising?

The result is How to Rob a Bank [33% on Rotten Tomatoes], as David Leitch and screenwriter Mark Bianculli (The Good Neighbor, TV’s Hunters and Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector) explore the theme through the clout-chasing power of viral videos — in this case, broadcasting the heists on YouTube — since the brain of the operation, Ryan (a bleached-blond Nicholas Hoult), believes that “an audience is more powerful than a gun”, even added during the opening voiceover narration that “content is king”.

What Is How to Rob a Bank About?

Like Point Break, where Patrick Swayze’s Bodhi and his gang put on ex-U.S. presidents-shaped masks during the heist, Ryan and his partners-in-crime — lover Emi (Anna Sawai) and friends Vince (Pete Davidson) and Hugo (Rhenzy Feliz) — rob the banks with GoPro cameras attached to their bodies and wolf masks concealing their faces. They equip themselves with guns, but generally use them for intimidation rather than as trigger-happy killing weapons, unless forced by circumstances.

Their bold livestreaming robbery tactic has gained lots of followers who support their cause, and the FBI, led by Agent John West (John C. Reilly), has been trying to nab them. He belongs to the old-school generation, and apprehending tech-savvy criminals like Ryan and his cohorts requires someone with similar expertise. So, he enlists Reagan (Zoë Kravitz), a hacker currently under house arrest for creating illegal surveillance software, to help him locate them. And in return, she will have her criminal record wiped clean and no longer serve house arrest.

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John C. Reilly and Zoë Kravitz Steal the Movie

I enjoy their contrasting on-screen dynamic between an old-fashioned, earnest FBI agent and a laid-back yet sardonic hacker, bringing an overall fresh energy to the buddy-movie formula. If only the movie sustained Reilly and Kravitz’s spot-on odd-couple chemistry throughout the just over two-hour runtime, but somehow, the promising momentum takes an abrupt shift in the second half, even going as far as sidelining these two characters.

The first half is promising, with a zippy pace that matches the intensity of Ryan and his gang’s flashy heist shot live on camera, breaking-the-fourth-wall moments surrounding the how-to robbery video guide, and Leitch’s genre know-how direction in blending propulsive action (the thrilling car chase comes to mind) and manic comedy with a matching soundtrack (among them are The Hives’ energetic garage-punk anthem “Tick Tick Boom” played in the background). The movie equally benefits from Hoult’s rebellious charm as the leader of the bank robbers, and for a while there, everything seems to be heading in the right direction.

Where How to Rob a Bank Falls Apart

Then comes the second half, pivoting radically from a go-for-broke action comedy to a melodramatic route focusing on the robbers’ tragic backstories, as if Leitch’s work is hijacked by a ghost director taking over the rest of the movie instead. What initially feels like it was an unorthodox wake-up call against capitalism of a rigged banking system designed to trap regular folks with a heap of debt, has now reduced to all things personal. The latter is especially true with what happens to Ryan and Emi’s lives in the past that triggered their populist movement in the first place.

But here lies the biggest problem: the attempt to inject emotions and sympathy for these criminals feels sadly unearned, particularly with the shoehorned exposition dump that does little to strengthen the story other than slowing down the movie to a near-grinding halt. Although Leitch does manage to pick up the pace during the chaotic third act, complete with an inevitable standoff between the angst-ridden Ryan and the relentless John West, the supposedly high-stakes culmination somehow loses its spark.

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Is How to Rob a Bank Worth Watching?

Given Leitch’s last action-comedy, The Fall Guy, showcased his flair for action comedy despite the movie unfortunately underperforming at the box office, I was hoping he would continue his winning creative streak, only to stumble in How to Rob a Bank with a half-baked result plagued by tonal whiplash.

How to Rob a Bank opened in theaters on November 13, 2026.