Army Of The Dead Review

‘Army Of The Dead’ returns Zack Snyder to the land of the un-dead for the first time since 2004’s ‘Dawn Of The Dead‘.

A non-green, Drax-less Dave Bautista leads the charge against legions of soul-less hordes.  But, can he and his team complete the Zombie Heist BEFORE…??!!

The Plot

EVERY ‘Vegas’ stereotype imaginable eventually works its way into ‘Army Of The Dead’.

We start with an ‘affectionate’ newlywed couple getting busy while driving down the highway, AND a military convoy taking Top Secret cargo out of Area 51.  

Unsurprisingly, our tropes crash head-on into each other.  The newly freed horde heads toward the bright light city gonna set their soul; gonna set their soul-less Zombies on fire…

As Sin City is overrun, the government is able to stop the Zombie spread by surrounding the Las Vegas Strip with massive walls of shipping containers.  During the chaos, Scott Ward, played by Dave Bautista, loses his Wife to zombies as their daughter watches.  All this as the opening credits roll, before the main action of the film starts.

Years later, Scott Ward works as a cook at a roadside diner; when Billionaire Bly Tanaka, played by Hiroyuki Sanada, gives him an offer he can’t refuse.

Scott’s mission: put together a team, break into a vault under a zombie infested Casino, and escape with the money before everything goes boom.

The Good – Army Of The Dead

Director Zack Snyder wisely doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel for this movie.  Create a fun summer zombie flick with cool death scenes: CHECK.  Shoot a simple storyline with a ticking clock heist: CHECK.  Don’t go FULL Zack Snyder and be sad and depressing:  CHECK.

Channeling Oceans 11, The Blues Brothers, and Hunger Games 4; Scott gets the band back together, has Bly set up the heist in a classic exposition dump, and heads straight towards the muck.

Scott’s lieutenants; Maria, played by Ana de la Reguera, and Vanderohe, played by Omari Hardwick, lead a small, but colorful team.  The helicopter pilot, played by Tig Notaro; the safe cracker, played by Matthias Schweighofer; the Zombie killing YouTuber, played by Raul Castillo; form the core of the team.

The scheistery corporate tagalong, played by Garret Dillahunt; the Coyote who’ll sneak the team in, played by Nora Arnezeder; and Scott’s bleeding heart daughter, played by Ella Purnell; also join the team, along with the guys you KNOW will die first.

Once on the Strip, the real Zombie fighting and heist truly begins.

The Bad

While Director Zack Snyder has rediscovered the ability to have FUN in a movie, ‘Army’ isn’t without flaws.

Compared to Zack Snyder’s Justice League, ‘Dead’ should feel brisk at 148 minutes long; but that’s still two minutes short of two and a half hours, and probably 45 minutes longer than it should be.

Additionally, it takes until the 50 minute mark for our team to get to the Strip and start battling the Zombie Army.  Snyder’s filmmaking is much more efficient and simplified than Justice League, but still feels like a Director’s Cut, than an actual theatrical release.  

Simple editing could have easily cut out 15-20 minutes and got us to the Zombie killing sooner, and another 20-30 minutes of streamlined storylines during the heist could have easily brought the run time down to an hour and 45 minutes. 

Dumping several character intros, and reducing the arc of the perverted bully, Cummings; would improve pacing and flow, and make for a better viewing experience.

Also, the CGI zombies and set extensions needed more work.  Zombie films can be intentionally cheesy and low budget as part of the charm and fun, but these CGI zombies and set extensions weren’t intended to look cheesy.  They just look CHEAP.

The Review – Army Of The Dead

Overall, Army Of The Dead delivers on the title and premise, as advertised.  Zombie Elvis, Zombie showgirls, and even Zombie CGI White Tiger sell the ‘Vegas’ and the horror.

Dave Bautista brings his Marvel Cinematic Universe action hero chops, but struggles slightly as a dramatic lead.  While his dramatic acting in the first Guardians of the Galaxy was fine in smaller doses, he doesn’t quite have the acting chops to put the full weight of the film on his massively muscled shoulders.

Bautista’s chemistry with daughter Kate, played by Ella Purnell, falls flat, but not to distraction.  Instead, what SHOULD feel like a Summer blockbuster if Stallone or Arnold were in the lead; feels more like a USA Network or TNT low budget movie airing after an NBA Playoff Game.

Tons of fun ‘Vegas’ locations and themes, creative zombie and character deaths, and the possibility of spinoffs and tv shows abound.  Army Of The Dead is worth watching, but don’t pay movie theater prices.  Watch as a matinee or on Netflix.

Additional Information.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0993840/?ref_=ttmi_tt

Check out my Review for Guy Ritchie’s ‘Wrath Of Man’, Jason Statham’s Summer Heist Movie!