Hey everyone, welcome to a brand new 2021 movie review! This time around I’ll be talking about the latest movie from the one and only Zack Snyder. Yes, the controversial filmmaker not only finally got to get his cut of Justice League released last year, but he also had an original film of his own come out on Netflix which may not have gotten as much coverage, but was still a nice hit for the streamer (or at least as big as a hit as made for streaming features can be). This was a movie I was actually excited about as Snyder is someone who has a very distinct vision for his films and a knack for exploring cool concepts and interesting themes. Even though he may not be for everyone, I sure as heck admire what he goes for a lot of the time and it’s nice seeing him return to his zombie horror roots a little more than a decade after his Dawn of the Dead remake. I also love the idea of a heist movie set during a zombie outbreak which is such a fun premise with a lot of potential and the trailers seemed to promise just that. Plus this is clearly something Netflix has big plans for as they plan on expanding this universe through sequels, prequels, and series. Thankfully I ended up enjoying this one quite a bit! Let’s now gear up and head on down to Vegas to see what made this heist through the apocalypse such an enjoyable ride!
The action kicks off with a great prologue that shows a military convoy carrying a zombie as cargo colliding with a car, which leads to the zombie escaping and going on to infect the city of Las Vegas. The military tries to interfere but no matter how much they throw at the zombies, nothing seems to stop them, so the government decides to quarantine the city. Cut to 6 years later and one of the mercenaries involved in fending off the zombies, Scott Ward, is approached by wealthy casino owner, Bly Tanaka, about heading into the closed off Las Vegas in order to retrieve $200 million from the vault in his casino before the city is to be nuked by the military. Wanting the money, Scott assembles his former teammates, Vanderohe and Maria Cruz as well as some new recruits in the form of the sharpshooter/youtuber, Mikey Guzman, helicopter pilot, Marianne Peters, and master safecracker, Ludwig Dieter. Once they arrive Scott meets up with his estranged daughter, Kate, who leads them to Lilly, a smuggler who knows her way around the city and is willing to lead the way for the team. So now off they go to accomplish their mission before time runs out, not knowing of the obstacles that lay before them…
Just the basic premise alone has so much potential as the heist genre is always a fun one to play around with and adding zombies to the mix puts a fresh spin on this oft told story. Thankfully Snyder and his team of writers are able to take advantage of these possibilities, utilizing the undead swarmed Vegas to great effect and crafting an interesting mythology out of it. One of the highlights was seeing how this colony of zombies functions as we see how some are more intelligent than others (such as the head alphas) and that they have feelings and emotions of their own. This makes them not only an intimidating threat but also a little sympathetic as they are portrayed as only protecting their territory and only act when provoked by trespassers messing with them (more on specifics when I get to talking about the characters). They made for a neat spin on the classic monster and I would be interested in learning more about them in one of the spin offs in the works. However the movie doesn’t just deliver a lot of cool zombie stuff, but it also works quite well as heist flick. The prologue does a fantastic job of establishing the status quo and introducing the characters with little dialogue and the beginning is spent fleshing most of them out just enough so that the audience has some investment in whether they’ll make it out or not. Once the heist begins it becomes a fun ride with plenty of intensity and gory mayhem that one would hope a movie like this would have and it ends on a high note with an exciting climax. That being said while I know Snyder loves long runtimes, I don’t feel the movie needed to be two and a half hours long as there are times where the flick can get slower than necessary, especially in the first hour and the last 10 minutes or so (which slight spoilers in involves sequel set up). Also I do feel like there were some moments of comedy that felt a bit out of place, but at the same time I did find a lot of the comedy to be very fun like when the characters play off of each other and when they try to bypass the vault security system by using zombies. It definitely could have used some tightening but this movie is still able to deliver on the fun it promises which is always key.
Given that this is a Zack Snyder production, your bound to get something distinctly Zack Snyder out of it which I see as a compliment. He’s just one of those directors who has a distinct filmmaking and visual style that it is easy to tell that he is the one behind the camera. Heck even people who don’t love the way he tells stories, tend to praise his skills as a visual storyteller. Here he infuses a lot of energy and style that makes the proceedings even more entertaining to watch unfold, but it never gets too overwhelming. Even certain choices such as focusing in on certain characters while the background is blurred (apologies if that sounds unclear, as I’m unfamiliar with what to call it) which sounds like it might be a distraction ended up working well and was not distracting at all. He is able to bring the necessary excitement to the action sequences as the shoot outs are coherent while the scenes of characters trying to quietly avoid the zombies are really intense. Stand out sequence for me would have to be the climax involving a helicopter flight gone wrong for just these reasons as well. The cinematography as a whole is well done as Snyder is able make this feel like a big picture with the help of the production team who are able to bring to life the zombie infested Vegas. Also a huge shout out to the make up artists who were able to bring the titular creatures to life as the prosthetics are absolutely phenomenal with the immense attention to detail being apparent every time they appear on screen. Huge credit to Richard Centrone and Athena Perample as Zeus and the Alpha Queen respectively as they do such a great job conveying what these beings are feeling through their physical performances and facial expressions, helping flesh them out as full on characters rather than just an mindless obstacle to shoot down. The VFX work is also well done with the stand out creation being a zombie tiger who gets one of my favorite kills in the movie. Again, no matter what one thinks of Snyder as a storyteller, who can’t help but admire the effort he puts into every one of his productions and this is no exception.
In the realm of wrestlers taking a shot at acting, I’d argue that Dave Bautista has had one of the most successful transitions as he has been able to show off an impressive range in different projects and has been involved with exciting talent. That continues here as he does a really good job as Scott, showing the grief he has over the loss of his wife while also giving off a nice sense of leadership that fits the role. Scott himself makes for a solid lead whose selfless nature makes him easy to root for with one understanding why he would want to take a potentially dangerous job and I ended up hoping that he would accomplish his goal. The relationships between him and the other characters are well established and fleshed out to the extent that I cared about most of them as well. The ones that get the most attention are his daughter, Kate (Ella Purnall), and colleague, Maria (Ana de la Reguera). The former is also shown to be a well meaning person who just wants to help and is even willing to risk her life just so she can go rescue some friends stuck in Vegas and one can understand the strained relationship between her and her father and I did like how that specific plot thread unfolded as it lead to an emotional conclusion. The latter acts as a would be love interest and one can sense the history she and Scott had which makes their chemistry easy to buy and I was surprised at where things ended up going with that relationship (spoilers: it’s very tragic). As for the rest of the team well some definitely stood out more than others. Lilly (Nora Arenezeder) is mostly there to get the team in and her character sounds more interesting on paper (a smuggler who transports people in and out of the city) than in execution while I like the idea of Mikey’s (Raul Castillo) character as a youtuber who now finds himself recruited for this mission, it’s just that he doesn’t get a whole lot to do or say. However I thought Tig Notaro (replacing D’Elia who got cut due to sexual misconduct) was quite fun in a limited capacity as Marianne who get some quips in there, Omari Hardwick was hilarious as Vanderhone, a hard core yet surprisingly zenful and wise individual who has a very unique way of looking at the universe, and Matthias Schweighofer is such a delight as Dieter, the eccentric one of the group who treats safe cracking like an art. I especially enjoyed the interactions between the latter two as they played off each other perfectly and I liked seeing them gain a greater respect for each of their skills. Other actors like Theo Rossi (as an abusive shelter guard named Burt), Hiroyuki Sanada (as the billionaire responsible for the mission) and Garret Delahunt (as Martin, an associate of Tanaka’s who accompanies the team) do well with the roles given and make the characters more memorable than they are on the page. Oh and spoiler side note on Martin: I have seen many complain about how Kate going against her father’s mission by going along and trying to save her friends is what ruined the trajectory of the mission for the team, but Snyder clearly shows that Martin was the main reason the mission was a bust. Plus given his intentions all along, the mission was essentially doomed whether she came along or not (heck Scott may not have made it out like he did if she didn’t come). So yeah, don’t really understand that complaint.
All in all, I found Army of the Dead to be a really fun and solid zombie heist flick that may run too long, has some out of place stuff, and some characters who don’t get a whole lot to do, but I like the world Snyder and co. have created, it has some exciting action, I was invested throughout, it has a lot of great style, and I liked getting to know most of these characters. It delivered exactly what I’d want from a film with this premise and I’m glad Snyder was able to get it made. I liked it so much that I’m more than onboard with whatever else he has in store for this universe as I really liked what I saw here and I feel there is plenty more than can be told in this world (still need to check out the Army of Thieves prequel/spin off). Plus it’s just awesome that the man was able to both get his vision of the DC super friends out there and create a new and exciting franchise in the same year. Bravo to that!
Rating: B+
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