The Great Robbery of Brazil’s Central Bank Review: Repetitive, Underwhelming

The Great Robbery of Brazil’s Central Bank (3 Tonelada$: Assalto ao Banco Central) is a crime documentary TV series consisting of 3 episodes, each around an hour long.

Netflix describes the series as:

In 2005, thieves tunnel into a Fortaleza, Brazil, bank vault and steal over 160 million reais. This docuseries explores that spectacular, historic heist.

– The Great Robbery of Brazil’s Central Bank review does not contain spoilers –

The Great Robbery of Brazil’s Central Bank tells the tale of a shocking crime. One that was carried out methodically and with such precision that it would shock anyone around. Listening to the various testimonies of the people close to the case is nothing short of shocking. The docuseries brings literally so many different points of view to the table that you get an almost 360-degree view of everything that went down, in front of and behind the scenes.

The crime is shocking, no doubt. A subject matter such as that is enough to keep viewers hooked to the screen. The nitty-gritties will make you gasp and, as previously mentioned, the precision of the planning will shock to beyond belief. In spite of this shocking crime as a topic, though, something about The Great Robbery of Brazil’s Central Bank just doesn’t click.

I think the problem is with Netflix’s documentary formats. We’ve seen almost the same thing over and over again in literally every documentary that the streaming giant has come out thus far. Although I am eternally thankful for the absence of a sombre and heavy-voiced narrator, it’s quite repetitive to watch swankily-dressed and serious-faced individuals narrating the incidents that they were once a part of, regardless of how shocking the crime was.

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It’s the same thing in every show – interviews, crime scene photos and some reenactments. I think it somewhat works for documentaries that focus on murders but when there are no murders in the mix, the format loses steam quickly. Thus, for three hours you are stuck listening to people recounting the robbery in a sort of monotone that can put you to sleep. The background score goes with the story, no doubt, but again isn’t anything that makes you sit up and take notice. Thus, you’re left with this underwhelming feeling of watching an interesting crime being handled in the most boring way possible.

Summing up: The Great Robbery of Brazil’s Central Bank

The Great Robbery of Brazil’s Central Bank is an underwhelming show. Not the story, the story is amazing. Arresting, even. But the way the story is presented in front of the audience feels lacklustre and repetitive at best.

The Great Robbery of Brazil’s Central Bank is streaming on Netflix.

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