Army of the Dead (2021)
“Think about it. Everything we did. All those people we saved. Look what it got us. But what if, just once, we did something for us?” – Scott Ward.
Army of the Dead (2021)
Directed by: Zack Snyder
Written by: Zack Snyder, Shay Hatton, Joby Harold
Starring: Dave Bautista, Ella Purnell, Omari Hardwick, Ana de la Reguera
Army of the Dead – the latest Netflix big budget blockbuster – promised us a high octane, zombie-filled joyride. However, for a movie with such a massive budget and promising premise, the Zack Snyder led flick is a massive disappointment.
Pegged as a ‘zombie-heist’ movie, the film follows a zombie breakout in Las Vegas. Once overrun, the US government condemns the city, sealing the zombies inside with barricades. With Vegas set to be destroyed by a tactical nuclear strike, Casino owner Bly Tanaka (Sanada) approaches former mercenary Scott (Bautista) with a job offer – assemble a team, break into the city, and recover $200 million in cash that Tanaka has in a casino vault.
It's an incredibly fun premise, and the concept of a heist movie mixed with another genre always works (here’s looking at you Point Break). Having said that, I’m a massive zombie movie fan, and I HATED the zombie aspect of this film. Snyder decided to basically rip off the white-walkers from Game of Thrones. There is a zombie ‘king’ who is smarter, faster and stronger than the other zombies. He rides a horse, wears armour, and has a zombie girlfriend. Humanising the zombies in this way is just…dumb, and feels more like a Marvel movie - with the heroes taking on a group of sophisticated aliens rather than zombies. Snyder also commits the biggest sin you can in a horror movie, giving the villain far too much screen time. By showing the zombies constantly (and in daylight!), it dulls any sense of fear or suspense. To reinforce this, the best two scenes in the movie are the opening scene (at night time), and a fifteen-minute sequence with the characters working their way through a dark room.
To be fair to Snyder, when the movie does go full ‘action mode’, it’s incredibly entertaining. Graphic, fast-paced and with strong choreography, the action scenes also do a good job of emphasising the skills of the team that was assembled. This isn't a group of helpless civilians running away from zombies and making infuriatingly stupid decisions, it’s a team of combat specialists. As such, they don’t simply ‘give up’ when they get cornered - they go out swinging, leading to some massive zombie kill-counts and fun five minute stretches of action. A word of warning though – if you’re squeamish and don’t like gore, this isn't for you. There are regular shots of people being ripped apart in gruesome ways, as Snyder milks the most out of his R-rating.
Another problem with the movie is the excruciatingly long runtime (148 minutes), with a bunch of emotional side stories dragging out the movie for no real payoff. They try to give Scott some character development by introducing an arc about his strained relationship with daughter Kate (Purnell), as well as old flame Maria (Reguera), but it’s wasted screentime. All I’m tuning into this film for is to watch them rob a bank while escaping zombies, I don’t need a fifty minute intro about a troubled family. The cast are fine, and Bautista continues his ascendency as a bankable action star, but the script is neither funny nor serious enough for anyone to stand out.
In summary, the action scenes are good, but for such a lot of hype, such a well renowned director, and such a big budget, this really missed the mark. I could name a dozen zombie movies you should watch instead of this. Definite pass.
Rating: 5/10
Troubled Development:
This film was originally announced in 2007, but bounced around in development hell at Warner Bros for years before being purchased by Netflix in 2019.
Reshoots:
Chris D’Elia was originally cast as the helicopter pilot, but was cut from the film due to sexual misconduct allegations.
He was replaced by Tig Notaro (ironically one of the best characters in the movie), with her scenes being reshot or digitally inserted into the movie in post-development.