Filmmaker David Leitch is known for flashy, action-forward movies that take themselves only so seriously.

An uncredited co-director on 2014’s “John Wick,” Leitch went on to helm myriad projects, including “Atomic Blonde” (2017), “Deadpool 2” (2018), “Bullet Train” (2022) and “The Fall Guy” (2024) — all flicks that, for better or worse, are studies in style over substance.

His latest effort, the action-comedy-drama hybrid “How to Rob a Bank” — about a team of masked bank robbers who, by filming and posting their jobs, have garnered a huge online following — brings the flashiness you’ve come to expect from Leitch and 87North Productions, the company he founded in 2019 with his wife, Kelly McCormick. The criminal crew’s increasingly viral videos are slickly produced, mixing in the kinds of bells and whistles that delight modern internet culture.

That said, “How to Rob a Bank,” which lands in theaters this week, makes the action a secondary element and has a surprising amount of meat on its bones, thanks to screenwriter Mark Bianculli putting contemporary issues, such as income inequality and predatory lending, at the heart of its unexpectedly resonant and largely entertaining story.

Ryan (Nicholas Hoult, “The Great,” “The Menu”), aka “The Wolf,” hosts the videos and leads the crew, which also includes his romantic partner, Emi (Anna Sawai, “Shōgun”), who’s quiet but skilled behind the wheel; Vince (Pete Davidson, “The King of Staten Island”), a military vet who’s the devoted type and desperate to support his small family; and Hugo (Rhenzy Feliz, “The Penguin”), a talented editor and tech guy, who has family commitments of a different sort.

In the clips, The Wolf tosses out statistics aimed at riling up a viewership struggling to make ends meet, including how unlikely you are today to own your own home or make a six-figure salary.

“Work. Pay. Survive. Repeat.”

However, he says, 90% of bank robberies go at least well enough that the thieves leave the premises with the cash. And, given the other stats he’s provided, “Nine out of 10 starts to sound like a pretty safe bet.”

John C. Reilly’s John West is the FBI agent working to bring the crew down. Frustrated by his team’s lack of progress, he enlists the help of Reagan Gardner (Zoë Kravitz), a talented software engineer under house arrest whose problematic program may just be the tool he needs.

Structurally, “How to Rob a Bank” has its issues. For starters, it’s ultimately populated only by protagonists, with the audience nudged to root not only for the unusual buddy-cop tandem of John and Reagan, with Reilly (“Winning Time”) and Kravitz (“The Batman”) making an odd but appealing pair, but also for Ryan and company, who are far from the greediest of criminals.

They’re cocky and brash, yes, making videos of the instructional variety, ostensibly teaching other would-be bank robbers about the situations they are likely to encounter, from run-ins with the under-trained — and, importantly, underpaid — bank security guards to interrogations by police. (Ask for your lawyer. Say absolutely nothing else.)

However, the crew is doing all of this — including very purposefully building a devoted following that eagerly awaits new videos to drop — with a higher purpose, along with supporting those whom they love.

It takes a little too long for Leitch and Bianculli (“The Good Neighbor,” “Hunters”) to flesh out the members of the crew, which contributes to the film’s slightly disjointed quality. Still, you’ll eventually understand why Ryan is so driven to stick with his grand plan, even as the heat intensifies.

Don’t get the wrong idea — it’s not as if “How to Rob a Bank” has no action chops. There’s a gunfight here and an armored truck heist there. But this probably is Leitch’s most grounded film, centered around John, who’s intent on bringing down Ryan — he sees the crew as attacking civilization and inviting anarchy — while also increasingly empathizing with him.

The film climaxes with a sequence that, while over-the-top and a little messy, fits with what’s led up to it.

When push comes to shove, “How to Rob a Bank” earns the right to take itself fairly seriously.

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'HOW TO ROB A BANK'

3 stars (out of 4)

MPA rating: R (for language, some violence and brief drug use)

Running time: 2:02

How to watch: In theaters Nov. 13

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