Army Of The Dead Review: Zack Snyder Delivers The First Satisfying Blockbuster Of The Summer
- May 29, 2021
- 3 min read
DIRECTED BY: ZACK SNYDER STARRING: DAVE BAUTISTA, ELLA PURNELL, & OMARI HARDWICK
RATED R FOR STRONG BLOODY VIOLENCE, GORE AND LANGUAGE THROUGHOUT, SOME SEXUAL CONTENT AND BRIEF NUDITY/GRAPHIC NUDITY
LENGTH: 148 MINUTES
Zack Snyder, love him or hate him, has become one of those directors whose name alone draws a large amount of attention to whatever project he does. Be it any of his DC movies including his recently released highly anticipated 4-hour director's cut of Justice League, his big-screen adaptation of Alan Moore's acclaimed graphic novel Watchmen, or his spartan epic 300. Despite all of these numerous big-budgeted blockbusters, Snyder initially got his start with the mid-budget remake of George A. Romero's horror classic Dawn Of The Dead. A film that to this day is still Snyder's highest rated film on Rotten Tomatoes. With Army of the Dead, Snyder finds himself returning to those undead roots, this time teaming with streaming juggernaut Netflix, who is banking big on the film's franchise potential.
Army of the Dead is set sometime after the events of a zombie uprising in Las Vegas, where Sin City has now been quarantined off from the rest of humanity with the government planning to nuke the city in the coming days. Enter Scott Ward (Dave Bautista) a former mercenary and widower who lost his wife in the uprising and has a strained relationship with his daughter (Ella Purnell). Scott is approached by casino owner Bly Tanaka (Hiroyuki Sanada) to assemble a team and smuggle $200 million out of a casino vault before the nuclear missile is deployed. As Scott and his team venture into the zombie-infested city, things naturally don't go as planned and they soon find themselves in a race against time.
Snyder has proven time and time again that he knows how to direct the perfect action sequence and in Army of the Dead he does it again. Despite the films near two and a half hour runtime, Snyder's stylings are in the forefront and helps the movie satisfy that summer blockbuster itch that many have been craving for quite some time. The zombie action is as gleefully bloody and violent as one would want from this type of movie and even when there isn't mayhem onscreen the film still finds ways to entertain. There is a lot of world-building being done here that makes it so easy to see why both Snyder and Netflix are itching to make this a franchise. The film also does an effective job at shaking up the lore behind zombies, instead of just going a route akin to what audience's may be used to, Army of the Dead goes a more unconventional approach to the walking dead.
Another interesting aspect to the film is the fact that Snyder, for the first time in his career, acted as his own director of photographer. The result is some extremely Snyder-esque visuals and an overabundance of blurs and fades. It's also clear that this is Snyder's first rodeo in this area and admittingly a lot of the experimentation is hit and miss.
Bautista turns in his best acting to date, while he has always shined in supporting roles, namely Drax in the Guardians of the Galaxy films; here he is given a much weightier role and one that shows just how skilled of an actor he really is. As for the rest, Omari Hardwick and Matthias Schweighöfer are definite scene-stealers and share excellent chemistry with one another.
The script itself is admittingly fairly weak especially with some of the directions that the plot takes and some key character moments that almost feel like a burden more than a treat. While the dialogue itself may not be prestige by any means, one really shouldn't be going into this film looking for an awards-worthy script. While the film never bores in it's lengthy runtime there are certainly a handful of moments that could have been cut without taking away anything noteworthy.
Army of the Dead is one of the first movies of the summer that truly scratches that blockbuster itch, which is ironic considering this is a Netflix film. It's not without its shortcomings, but there is so much fun to be had and one that would make for an easy recommendation for Snyder devotees and zombie enthusiasts.
4/5 Stars
Army of the Dead is now streaming on Netflix.
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