Released: 21st May 2021 (Netflix)
Length: 148 Minutes
Certificate: 18
Director: Zack Snyder
Starring: Dave Bautista, Ella Purnell, Omari Hardwick, Ana de la Reguera, Theo Rossi, Matthias Schweighöfer, Nora Arnezeder and Hiroyuki Sanada
Zack Snyder remains one of the most controversial directors in the big-budget Hollywood scene. Making his debut with the remake of Dawn of the Dead, his releases are known for being high on visual splendour. After more than a decade, he’s returned to the horror genre with his own style of zombie flick. It has some strengths here and there, but otherwise settles for an unremarkable offering.
Army Of The Dead opens with a bloody montage that sees a zombie outbreak escape from a military transport and quickly overrun Las Vegas. With the Strip sealed off with a wall of containers, Vegas is set to be wiped off the map with a tactical nuke. The rich businessman Bly Tanaka (Hiroyuki Sanada) employs the mercenary Scott Ward (Dave Bautista) and his band of compatriots to slip into one of the casinos and make off with a mountain of money before the bomb drops. While the production had a lot of potential for blending a heist film with zombies, the flick falls down quickly with its bloated length. The introduction to the setting and narrative is too long and should have been trimmed down; it takes almost forty-five minutes for them to finally enter the walled-off town and the tension is incredibly lacking from then on.
Admittedly, the film is also derivative of other horror flicks at several points, most notably An American Werewolf In London. On occasion, we get some scenes showing the more intelligent side of the zombies, but it’s nothing we haven’t seen before in the likes of Romero’s Land Of The Dead. Most of the way through, we have average sequences of the characters carefully moving from one place to the next without much payoff. That changes in the final act, which suddenly kicks things up a notch and puts the action centre stage. When you put aside the film’s weaker elements this sequence is very entertaining, but it’s only a piece of the wider puzzle.
Much like the story, the connections between characters are very fleeting; there are hints of the connection between alongside a sense of camaraderie. Only four members of the cast make an impact, starting with the bond between Scott and his daughter Kate (Ella Purnell). They are the only duo who get some time outside of the action to discuss their bond. Outside of this, Vanderohre (Omari Hardwick) and Dieter (Matthias Schweighöfer) are also likeable, forming an unlikely friendship as the film goes on. The other characters are very lacklustre and it doesn’t help that their decisions often leave the audience scratching their heads. Case and point; there’s one abusive attendant (played by Theo Rossi) at the Nevada quarantine camp who only tags along so he can be dragged off by the zombie alphas in the first act. Then there’s a close confidante to Bly Tanaka and from the moment he joins the group, you immediately know there’s a hidden agenda. For the most part, there’s very little originality or depth to Army Of The Dead’s characters. You’ll have a hard time connecting to their plight for most of the runtime.
Zack Snyder has always focused on delivering a blazing spectacle and his latest production continues that trend, with a liberal use of slow-motion and angled shots of the characters unleashing their firepower. However, for all the neon-lit marketing, Army Of The Dead’s look is standard, with endless deserts marked by the occasionally sweeping long shot. The action itself is well done, with some great make-up work all on the undead all-around. It’s filled with tons of gory carnage and one moment involving a zombified tiger is especially gruesome. While cutting is rather frequent, things don’t become incomprehensible and the audio design of the heavy weaponry packs a mean punch. When the final escape comes to fruition, the chase feels much more thrilling than anything in the film’s earlier moments. With that said, the film’s soundtrack is very questionable; it relies on many remixes of classic horror tracks that fall short of delivering a wider personality.
Like many of his previous efforts, Snyder’s Army Of The Dead finds itself overshadowed by its visual elements and action scenes. While it’s mostly an average affair, the final act does manage to up the intensity and stakes. It props the movie up a bit despite the story and characters being rather weak. If the director plans on creating a new series here, he would do well to get us more invested in the players involved.
Rating: 2.5/5 Stars (Mediocre)
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