Zack Snyder’s great year of film releases continues, as he releases a picture that could not possibly belong to anybody else for the second time in two months.
In March, Snyder established a new precedent when Warner Bros. allowed him to go back and finish his Justice League project, which was nearly unheard of from a major studio. Since the news of Zack Snyders Justice League has emerged in 2020, I’ve been rooting for Snyder because he has obviously funneled his personal anguish into some really personal and passionate works. And, whereas Zack Snyder’s Justice League shows him at his most earnest, Army of the Dead shows him at his most humorous.
Dave Bautista stars as Scott Ward, the head of a crew of mercenaries entrusted with carrying off a robbery to collect $200 million secreted away in a vault in the center of a zombie-infested Las Vegas. The film’s opening titles tell the narrative of how zombies got to the city. A duet of “Viva Las Vegas” plays as the first zombies make their way into a heavily populated metropolis too preoccupied and indifferent to worry about the impending pandemic.
The public is led within minutes by a blood-soaking assembly of gunshots, carnages, and Elvis lookalikes, while presenting the cast of characters and showing why Las Vegas has become ground zero first for the zombie breakout and then the oncoming nuclear strike.
Army of the Dead is 2 hours and 30 minutes long, and it feels like it. It’s no surprise that Zack Snyder likes extended films, especially following the release of his version of Justice League, which ran slightly more than 4 hours. In contrast to Justice League, which used its additional time providing us prolonged action scenes and deeper character development, this film’s bloated duration scarcely delivers us anything remarkable. There is a major lack of exciting zombie action and paper-thin characters that do not engage the audience in any way. Dave Bautista’s portrayal as Scott Ward is by far the strongest element of the film and is the only thing that keeps it all together. I do also like the supporting cast as Garret Dillahunt, Omari Hardwick, Theo Rossi, and Ella Purnell did their roles pretty well and made the best of their on-screen time.
Being a fan of The Walking Dead, I had to come into Army of the Dead with an open mind on how zombies are handled. I did watch Dawn of the Dead way back in 2004 so I knew exactly what to expect. That is brutal zombie kills, a ton of blood, and a zombie tiger that can run up The Walking Dead’s Shiva for their money. Zack Snyder certainly intended to tackle the usual film zombies in a different way. He constructs his own rules and laws of zombies in this realm. The major problem with this film is that the smarter zombies’ actions are rather foolish and the rules presented on-screen make no sense. Smarter zombies are nothing new in today’s age of the zombie genre. And depending on the execution, the notion might be hit or miss. It was a total miss for me on several layers that I can’t fathom to explain.
Despite its flaws, I did have fun watching Army of the Dead. I just wish that there was more substance with the plot and the amazing cast. Let’s pray that we will not get an 8-hour version of Army of the Dead that is hiding somewhere in Netflix’s vault.